PARKING FEE SYSTEM

Abstract: The present invention relates to a parking fee system comprising a parking ticket device (13), which comprises means for producing a parking ticket comprising an individual identifier at the beginning of the parking event; a parking fee centre (12), which maintains and processes information on the parking of vehicles in at least one parking area; and an exit control device (14), which comprises means for checking the payment of the fee for the parking event relating to the parking ticket and for opening a boom or the like. The parking fee centre (12) is in connection with a mobile communication network and comprises means for receiving information comprising a parking-ticket-specific identifier; means for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of said received information; means for charging for the parking fee; means for producing an exit permit code as a response to the charging for the parking fee; and the exit control device (14) comprises means for receiving the ticket-specific exit permit code produced by the parking fee centre (12) and means for opening a boom or the like as a response to the detection of the parking ticket corresponding to the received exit permit code.

Description: PARKING FEE SYSTEM [0001] The present invention relates to parking fee systems, particularly to fee systems in parking garages or corresponding restricted parking areas. [0002] Known systems include fee systems in parking garages or areas, in which a vehicle arriving in a parking area receives a printed parking ticket by means of which the driver pays for the parking fee prior to returning to the vehicle. When the driver drives to the exit boom, the boom is opened utilizing the parking ticket paid for. In such a case, there is a parking fee device in the parking area for the purpose of payment, into which device the parking ticket is supplied. The device reads from a magnetic track on the ticket the printing time of the ticket, i.e. the starting time of the parking, calculates the price of the parking event on the basis of the tariffs in use, and shows then the price on the display of the parking fee device. After this, the driver pays for the parking fee in cash or possibly with a credit card accepted by the fee device. As a response to the payment of the parking fee, the device enters an acknowledgement and the time of the payment on the ticket. After this, the driver has to return to the vehicle within a predetermined time limit and drive to the exit boom. At the boom, there is a control device into which the ticket is supplied. The control device reads the acknowledgement of the payment from the ticket and opens the boom if the fee has been paid for and the time limit for exit has not been exceeded. [0003] The most significant weakness of the above-described system is that the payment takes a long time and a large number of parking fee devices are needed in the parking area. Queues are easily formed at parking fee devices in the parking areas, and it takes a long time to pay in cash. Drivers may also have to walk long distances to the parking fee devices in large parking areas, which is laborious and can even make it difficult to find the vehicle after paying. [0004] An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above- mentioned problems by providing a user-friendly solution in which the payment of the parking fee is quick and simple and in which no cash or credit card is needed. This is achieved by means of a parking fee system comprising a parking ticket device, which comprises means for producing a parking ticket comprising an individual identifier at the beginning of the parking event; a parking fee centre, which maintains and processes information on the parking of vehicles in at least one parking area; and an exit control device which comprises means for checking the payment of the parking fee for the parking event relating to the parking ticket and for opening a boom or the like. Said parking system is characterized in that the parking fee centre is in connection with a mobile communication network and comprises means for receiving information comprising a parking-ticket-specific identifier, means for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of the received information, means for charging for the parking fee, means for producing an exit permit code as a response to the charging for the parking fee; and the exit control device comprises means for receiving the ticket- specific exit permit code produced by the parking fee centre, and means for opening a boom or the like as a response to the detection of the parking ticket corresponding to the received exit permit code. [0005] The term 'parking fee centre' refers in this application generally to equipment for maintaining and processing data relating to separate parking events, parking tariffs used in parking areas, charging, and manners of payment selected by the users, for example. The equipment may comprise units relating both to a specific single parking area and to a parking system covering several parking areas. [0006] The term 'identifier' refers to ticket-specific individual information, which may be for instance a number sequence printed out, information stored on a magnetic track or a bar code identifier. [0007] An object of the invention is further a parking fee centre for maintaining and processing information on the parking of vehicles. Said parking fee centre is characterized in that it is in connection with a mobile communication network and comprises means for receiving information comprising a ticket-specific identifier and for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of the received information, means for charging for the parking fee, and means for producing an exit permit code as a response to the charging for the parking fee. [0008] An object of the invention is further a parking ticket device comprising means for producing a parking ticket comprising an identifier. Said parking ticket device is characterized in that it comprises means for adding the required information to the parking ticket to set up a connection to the parking fee centre to pay for the parking fee via a mobile station (MS). [0009] The invention is based on the idea that when the parking ticket is provided with an identifier by means of which the starting time and price of the parking event in question can be determined, the parking fee can be paid for via a mobile station by transmitting the identifier of the ticket to the parking fee centre. The exit boom is controlled by a ticket-specific exit permit code produced by the parking fee centre. The idea is that the parking fee has been paid for and acknowledged when the vehicle arrives at the exit boom, whereby the exit goes rapidly and unnecessary queues are avoided. The most significant advantage of the system is thus that the payment measures take a shorter time and are easier when the payment is performed via a mobile station. Thus, it is not necessary to have cash in hand or a credit card accepted by the fee device for the parking fee. [0010] In an embodiment according to the invention, a data transmission connection has been set up between the parking fee device and the parking fee centre to transmit the printing time of the parking ticket, i.e. the starting time of the parking event, to the parking fee centre. Hereby, the parking fee centre is able to calculate the duration of the parking event and also the amount of the parking fee as soon as it has received the message contained in the identifier of the parking ticket. [0011] In a second embodiment of the invention, a data transmission connection has been set up between the parking fee centre and the exit control device to transmit an exit permit code from the parking fee centre to the exit control device as a response to the charging for the parking fee. Thus, once the parking ticket is supplied into the exit control device, the device knows whether the parking event relating to the parking ticket in question has been paid for and can open the boom for the exiting vehicle. [0012] In a third embodiment of the invention, the system comprises means for receiving information containing a parking-ticket-specific identifier from a mobile station, and means for transmitting an acknowledgement to the mobile station as a response to the charging for the parking fee. Owing to this acknowledgement, the driver of the vehicle, when driving to the exit boom, can be confident that the parking fee paid for via the mobile station has been successfully charged for. This allows avoidance of disruptive situations at the boom that might be brought about if the exit control device did not receive the exit permit code relating to the supplied parking ticket. [0013] In a fourth embodiment of the invention, the parking ticket device comprises means for adding to the identifier of each parking ticket the information on the tariff applied to the parking event. Thus, the parking fee centre does not need to separately enquire this information of the garage- specific server and the tariff information does not have to be stored beforehand in the database of the parking fee centre, for example, but the parking fee centre receives the tariff information as part of each ticket-specific identifier. [0014] In a fifth embodiment of the invention, the parking ticket device comprises means for transmitting the starting time of the parking event relating to the identifier of the parking ticket to the parking fee centre. This can take place immediately after the production of the parking ticket, whereby the parking ticket device transmits a message to the parking fee centre on every ticket produced, and the parking fee centre stores this information and uses it when calculating the amount of the parking fee at the end of the parking event. The information can also be transmitted to the parking fee centre as a response to the enquiry transmitted by the parking fee centre and concerning the starting time. [0015] Preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the attached dependent claims. [0016] The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the attached figures, of which [0017] Figure 1 shows a system according to the invention, in which the identifier of a parking ticket is transmitted from a mobile station to a parking fee centre via a mobile communication network; [0018] Figure 2 shows a system according to the invention, in which the parking fee centre consists of two parts, one of which comprises a payment terminal; and [0019] Figure 3 shows a system according to the invention, in which the starting time of the parking event is contained in the identifier of the parking ticket. [0020] Figure 1 shows a system according to the invention, in which the identifier of a parking ticket is transmitted from a mobile station to a parking fee centre via a mobile communication network. The system comprises a mobile station MS, via which a connection is set up to a parking fee centre 12 through a short message service centre SMSC 11 , as well as a parking ticket device 13 in connection with the parking fee centre 12, and an exit control device 14. [0021] Instead of the short message service centre 11 , a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) server, an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) centre, or some other network element of a mobile communication system can form the interface to the parking fee centre. [0022] When arriving in a boom-controlled parking garage, the driver drives in via the parking ticket device 13. He/she receives a printed parking ticket, after which he/she parks the car in an unoccupied parking place. A ticket-specific identifier has been printed on the parking ticket and is needed if the parking fee is to be paid for via a mobile station MS. For termination of the parking event, this example comprises a short message service number, to which the driver has to send a short message to pay for the parking fee. The service number is preferably printed on each parking ticket. When the parking event is to be terminated, the driver sends a short message containing the identifier on the ticket from the mobile station MS to the service number given. The identifier can consist of a number sequence including the identifiers of the parking garage operator, parking garage and parking event, for instance. The short message service centre 11 transmits the short message further to the parking fee centre 12. Next, the parking fee centre 12 sends an enquiry to the parking ticket device 13 via the mobile communication network concerning the starting time of the parking event, and calculates the amount of the parking fee on the basis of the starting time and the valid tariff. After this, the parking fee centre 12 performs the charging and sends an acknowledgement of the charging to the driver's mobile station MS via the short message service centre 11. Various manners of payment according to the client's wishes can be used, for example charging from a bank account, charging a pre-paid card or purse or charging afterwards in such a way that the parking fee is added to the driver's mobile telephone bill. The use of some manners of payment require that the mobile station subscribers be registered beforehand and the subscriber be identified for instance on the basis of the A subscriber identity, i.e. the caller's number. In this case, there must be a database in connection with the fee centre for maintaining the subscriber data and, for example, data on the manners of payment selected by the subscribers. Finally, the driver drives to the exit boom and inserts the parking ticket into the exit control device 14, whereby the exit control device 14 transmits the enquiry concerning the payment of the parking event indicated by the ticket to the parking fee centre 12. If the parking fee relating to the ticket has been paid for, the parking fee centre 12 gives an exit permit code to the exit control device 14 and the boom is opened. [0023] In the above-described example, the functions of the parking fee centre 12 can be divided between the parking garage's own server and a server shared by the whole system. Hereby, the parking garage server can for example maintain information on when each parking event has begun, according to which tariff the parking is to be charged for, and whether the parking fee relating to a certain parking event has been paid for. Thus, the garage server is capable of calculating the amount of the parking fee and finally of transmitting the exit permit code to the exit control device 14. The server shared by the whole system can, in turn, attend to the reception of the identifier on the parking ticket via a mobile communication network, the charging, and the production of the exit permit code on the basis of the charging performed. The exit permit code can be transmitted via the parking garage's own server, whereby, having received the exit permit code from the server shared by the whole system, the garage server gives a transmission permit to the acknowledging short message to be sent to the driver. The information on the parking fee paid for is thus recorded in the garage server, and the exit control device 14 can enquire the payment of the fee of the garage's own server, whereby one can be more confident that the parking ticket relating to the parking event paid for is actually identified when it enters the exit control device 14. [0024] The information comprising a ticket-specific identifier can be transmitted to the parking fee centre 12 also by calling a given service number with the mobile station MS, and said number can be printed on every parking ticket. In such a case, for instance an IVR service can be used, whereby the driver keys in the identifier of the parking ticket in accordance with the instructions heard as voice messages. [0025] Figure 2 shows a system according to the invention, in which the parking fee centre consists of two parts, one of which comprises a payment terminal. The system disclosed comprises a mobile station MS, a parking fee centre 21 , 22, as well as an exit control device 24 and a parking ticket device 23 in data transmission connection with the parking fee centre. The parking fee centre consists of a first part, i.e. a garage-specific part 21 , and a second part, i.e. a part 22 shared by the whole system. The garage- specific parts 21 of several different parking garages can be connected to the part 22 shared by the whole system. [0026] When arriving in a boom-controlled parking garage, the driver drives in via the parking ticket device 23, from which he/she receives a parking ticket, and parks the car in an unoccupied parking place. The parking ticket is provided with a ticket-specific identifier which is needed if the parking fee is to be paid via a mobile station MS. In the case of this example, the ticket-specific identifier is machine-readable, in other words it is stored on a magnetic track, for example. For the termination of the parking event, the driver inserts the parking ticket into the payment terminal belonging to the first, i.e. garage-specific, part 21 of the parking fee centre. Thus, contrary to the example of Figure 1 , the driver has to move on to a payment terminal, which can be located in connection with a conventional cash payment device in the parking hall. However, in order to avoid queues, it is better to use a separate device as the payment terminal for payments performed via a mobile station. The payment terminal reads the identifier on the parking ticket and sends an enquiry to the garage server, concerning the information required for calculating the price, i.e. the starting time of the parking event and the tariff used. The server returns either this information or the calculated price to the payment terminal. The payment terminal is provided with a transceiver for wireless data transmission, for example data transmission based on the Blue Tooth technique, whereby the terminal sends the information concerning the payment to the payer's mobile station MS. After this, the payer acknowledges 'the bill' and returns it to the payment terminal. This can take place in such a way that the payer's identifier information required for the charging is returned from the mobile station MS, or in such a way that information on real payment is returned if the mobile station has a SIM credit card or an electronic purse. The payment terminal further sends information on the acceptance of the fee or of the payment thereof to the garage server. If the parking fee is added to a mobile telephone bill, for instance, the second part 22 of the parking fee centre, which can maintain information on the manners of payment selected by the users, attends to the charging. When the charging for the parking fee has been completed, the parking fee centre returns the stamping information of the ticket to the payment terminal. Thus, the parking ticket relating to the parking event paid for is stamped, in other words the first part 21 of the parking fee centre adds thereto the information on the fee charged for. This information functions as an exit permit code. Finally, the driver drives to the exit control device 24, which is opened when the exit permit code is read from the parking ticket. Thus, no data transmission connection between the parking fee centre 21 , 22 and the exit control device 24 is required here. [0027] Contrary to the above-described example, the payment terminal can return a ticket-specific identifier and a service number instead of the price to the display, whereby the payer calls the service number with his/her mobile station MS and informs the parking fee centre on the identifier, after which the payment proceeds in accordance with the example of Figure 1. The service number can also be transferred from the payment terminal to the mobile station MS by means of wireless data transmission. [0028] Figure 3 shows a system according to the invention, in which the starting time of the parking event is included in the identifier of the parking ticket. The system disclosed comprises a mobile station MS, a parking fee centre 31 , a parking ticket device 33 and an exit control device 34 in data transmission connection with the parking fee centre 31. [0029] When arriving in the parking area, the driver acts in the same way as in the cases of Figures 1 and 2. The parking ticket device 33 prints an identifier on the parking ticket, containing in this example the starting time of the parking event and a service number which the driver has to call when wishing to terminate the parking event. The service number can function by means of the IVR technique, for instance, whereby the driver keys in the identifier on the ticket for the parking fee centre 31. In order for the parking fee centre 31 to be able to attend to the charging, it needs, in addition to the starting time of the parking event, the tariff information of the particular parking area. This tariff information can be stored in a database which is in connection with the parking fee centre 31. Alternatively, the tariff information can be included in the identifier of the parking ticket. Having calculated the amount of the parking fee, the parking fee centre 31 performs the charging in the manner selected by the client. As a response to the successful charging for the fee, the parking fee centre 31 sends an acknowledgement to the driver's mobile station MS and produces an exit permit code relating to the parking ticket in question. The exit permit code is transmitted to the exit control device 34 via a data transmission connection. When the driver finally drives to the exit control device 34 and supplies the parking ticket into it, the exit control device 34 compares the identifier on the ticket with the received exit permit code and opens the exit boom if the fee has been paid for. Thus, no data transmission connection between the parking ticket device 33 and the parking fee centre 31 is required. [0030] In the examples of Figures 1 and 3, the service number which the driver calls when terminating the parking event can be either nation- wide, garage-specific, parking-area-operator-specific or event-specific. [0031] It is understandable that the above description and the related figures are only intended to illustrate the present invention. Different variations and modifications of the invention will be obvious to a person skilled in the art, without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention defined in the attached claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A parking fee system comprising a parking ticket device (13, 23, 33), which comprises means for producing a parking ticket comprising an individual identifier at the beginning of a parking event; a parking fee centre (12, 21 , 22, 31), which maintains and processes information on the parking of vehicles in at least one parking area; and an exit control device (14, 24, 34), which comprises means for checking the payment of the fee for the parking event relating to the parking ticket and for opening a boom or the like, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the parking fee centre (12, 21 , 22, 31) is in connection with a mobile communication network and comprises means for receiving information comprising a parking-ticket-specific identifier; means for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of said received information; means for charging for the parking fee; means for producing an exit permit code as a response to the charging for the parking fee; and the exit control device (14, 24, 34) comprises means for receiving the ticket-specific exit permit code produced by the parking fee centre (12, 21 , 22, 31); and means for opening a boom or the like as a response to the detection of the parking ticket corresponding to the received exit permit code. 2. A parking fee system according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a data transmission connection has been set up between the parking ticket device (13, 23) and the parking fee centre (12, 21 , 22) for transmitting the production time of the parking ticket, i.e. the starting time of the parking event, to the parking fee centre (12, 21 , 22). 3. A parking fee system according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a data transmission connection has been set up between the parking fee centre (12, 31) and the exit control device (14, 34) for transmitting the exit permit code from the parking fee centre (12, 31) to the exit control device (14, 34) as a response to the charging for the parking fee. 4. A parking fee system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the parking fee system further comprises means for receiving information comprising a ticket-specific identifier from a mobile station (MS); and means for transmitting an acknowledgement to the mobile station (MS) as a response to the charging for the parking fee. 5. A parking fee centre for maintaining and processing information on the parking of vehicles, characterized in that the parking fee centre (12, 21, 22, 31) is in connection with a mobile communication network and comprises means for receiving information comprising a ticket-specific identifier and for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of the received information; means for charging for the parking fee; and means for producing an exit permit code as a response to the charging for the parking fee. 6. A parking fee centre according to claim 5, characterized in that the parking fee centre (12, 21, 22, 31) comprises a first part (21) in the parking area, and a second part (22) in data transmission connection with the first part (21); whereby the first part (21) of the parking fee centre, which comprises a server of a particular parking area, comprises at least means for determining the starting time and price of the parking event on the basis of the ticket- specific identifier. 7. A parking ticket device, which comprises means for producing a parking ticket comprising an identifier, characterized in that the parking ticket device (13, 23, 33) comprises means for adding to the parking ticket the information required to set up a connection to the parking fee centre (12, 21, 22, 31) to pay for the parking fee via a mobile station (MS). 8. A parking ticket device according to claim 7, characterized in that the parking ticket device (13, 23, 33) comprises means for adding an identifier to the ticket to be produced in such a way that the identifier contains at least the information required for determining the starting time of the parking event. 9. A parking ticket device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the parking ticket device (13, 23, 33) comprises means for adding to the identifier of each parking ticket the information on the tariff applied to the parking event. 10. A parking ticket device (13, 23, 33) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the parking ticket device (13, 23, 33) comprises means for transmitting the starting time of the parking event relating to the identifier of the parking ticket to the parking fee centre (12, 21, 22, 31).

Inventors: HARJU HEIKKI, HARJU, HEIKKI
Applicants: HARJU HEIKKI, PAYWAY OY, HARJU, HEIKKI
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G07B15
IPC codes: G07B15, G07F7, G07F17