Patent ID: 6246338
Filing Date: 2001-06-12
Classification: G06Q,G07B,G07F

Abstract:
A method of cash card billing for the cost of parking with the aid of pay meters when parking a vehicle within a parking meter system that includes a plurality of pay meters, wherein a single pay meter serves a plurality of parking spaces, each pay meter including a cash card reader, a keypad, and a memory, wherein the memory of each pay meter is connected to the memory of a central computer, and wherein no parking ticket is issued at the parking commencement time, said method comprising the steps of:entering into a pay meter within the parking meter system upon commencement of a parking period a parking customer's cash card account number and a vehicle registration number to identify the vehicle to be parked;storing the cash card account number, the vehicle registration number, and a parking commencement time in a memory within the pay meter upon commencement of the parking period;reading the cash card account number by any pay meter within the parking meter system when terminating the parking period;storing in a memory of the pay meter that has read the cash card account number upon termination of the parking period the card account number and the time at which the card was read upon termination of the parking period to identify a parking termination time;transferring the contents of the memories of the respective pay meters to the central computer and determining the cost for the parking period corresponding with the cash card account number and the time interval between the parking commencement time and the parking termination time; andbilling the cash card account number for the cost for the parking period.