PARKING LOCATOR SYSTEM INCLUDING PROMOTION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

• US 20110015934A1
• Filed: 09/07/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mentis Services France
• Original Assignee: Societe Stationnement Urbain Developpements et Etudes
• Inventors: Fiorucci, Jean-Louis, Rowe, Rick
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,800 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0237 at kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/141 with means giving the indication of available parking spaces

Abstract

A promotion distribution system that distributes promotions based on where a user has parked provides the benefit of allowing providers or merchants to target promotions to particular areas where users park. The target areas may be remote from a merchant'"'"'s location. In addition, since there are a vast number of vehicle drivers and passengers that park, the system provides a large audience for merchant promotions. The system may comprise one or more parking locators that detect the presence of a vehicle within a vicinity. A repository server and parking kiosk may retrieve promotions for presentation to a user based on where the user has parked and the area in which a promotion is targeted.

Claims

1. A promotion distribution system that distributes promotional materials based on a location of a parking space at which a user has parked a vehicle comprising:

one or more parking locators associated with one or more parking spaces in a vicinity, the one or more parking locators configured to generate parking information comprising information indicating the presence or absence of a vehicle within at least one of the one or more parking spaces in the vicinity;

a repository server configured to receive one or more promotional materials from one or more merchants and store the one or more promotional materials, the one or more promotional materials stored associated with one or more merchant locations and one or more target areas; and

a parking kiosk configured to;

receive the parking information generated by the one or more parking locators in the vicinity;

retrieve from the repository server at least one of the one or more promotional materials having an associated target area that overlaps the vicinity; and

distribute the at least one retrieved promotional material to a user parked at the one or more parking spaces.

2. The promotion distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more merchant locations are remote from the one or more target areas.

3. The promotion distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more merchant locations are remote from the vicinity to encourage one or more drivers to visit one or more areas outside the vicinity.

4. The promotion distribution system of claim 3, wherein the one or more promotional materials further comprise a particular time period in which the one or more promotional materials are valid to encourage the one or more drivers to visit the one or more areas outside the vicinity at the particular time period.

5. The promotion distribution system of claim 1, wherein the parking kiosk is configured to retrieve the at least one of the promotional materials from the repository server having the associated target area that overlaps the vicinity in response to input from a pedestrian requesting one or more of the one or more promotional materials.

6. The promotion distribution system of claim 1 further comprising one or more additional parking locators configured to generate parking information for one or more parking spaces in a second vicinity, wherein the parking kiosk is configured to receive the parking information generated by the one or more parking locators at the second vicinity and retrieve at least one of the promotional materials from the repository server having an associated target area that overlaps the second vicinity.

7. The promotion distribution system of claim 1, wherein the parking kiosk comprises a display configured to distribute the retrieved promotional material by electronically displaying the retrieved promotional material.

8. A parking kiosk configured to distribute promotional materials adjacent one or more parking spaces comprising:

one or more communication devices configured to;

receive parking information indicating the presence of a parked vehicle within one of a plurality of vicinities, each of the plurality of vicinities having a defined area;

request from a repository server one or more promotional materials having a target area that overlaps the vicinity where the parked vehicle is present; and

receive from the repository server the one or more promotional materials along with one or more merchant locations that are stored in association with the one or more promotional materials by the repository server;

a presentation device configured to present to a user the one or more received promotional materials including the one or more merchant locations associated thereto, the presentation device selected from the group consisting of a screen, electronic display, printer, and media dispenser;

a payment acceptor configured to receive payment for parking within the vicinity from the user; and

an enclosure configured to secure the one or more transceivers, the presentation device, and the payment acceptor.

9. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein the presentation device is configured to present the one or more promotional materials after payment has been received by the payment acceptor.

10. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein at least one of the one or more communication devices is in communication with one or more parking locators to receive the parking information indicating the presence of the parked vehicle within the vicinity.

11. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein at least one of the one or more communication devices is in communication with the repository server.

12. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein the one or more communication devices are further configured to transmit the one or more received promotional materials to a portable electronic device belonging to the user.

13. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein the one or more communication devices are configured to request from the repository server one or more promotional materials having a target area that overlaps the vicinity where the parked vehicle is present and having a merchant location outside the vicinity where the parked vehicle is present.

14. The parking kiosk of claim 8, wherein the enclosure is configured to secure the one or more transceivers, the presentation device, and the payment acceptor at a location adjacent one or more parking spaces.

15. A method of providing promotional materials based on a vicinity in which a user parks a vehicle comprising:

receiving one or more promotional materials from one or more merchants, the one or more promotional materials including at least one merchant location and at least one target area;

storing the one or more promotional materials on one or more storage devices accessible via a repository server;

detecting the presence of a parked vehicle in one of a plurality of vicinities;

retrieving a promotional material from the one or more storage devices having a target area that overlaps the vicinity in which the parked vehicle'"'"'s presence has been detected; and

presenting a promotion and a merchant location of the retrieved promotional material to a user.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing one or more parking locators at the plurality of vicinities, wherein the one or more parking locators are configured to detect the presence of the parked vehicle in their respective vicinities.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing a parking kiosk configured to present the promotion and the merchant location to the user.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein retrieving the promotional material from the one or more storage devices comprises retrieving a promotional material from the one or more storage devices having a target area that overlaps the vicinity and having a merchant location outside the vicinity.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein presenting the promotion and the merchant location comprises printing the promotion and merchant location.

20. The method of claim 15 further comprising presenting a time period in which the promotion is valid along with the promotion and the merchant location, the time period received from the one or more merchants.