Abstract:
The ticket processing system utilizes RFID technique to record and access data in the parking tickets. The ticket processing system mainly contains at least a ticket reader positioned at the entry of the parking lot. A first antenna in the ticket reader writes data into a ticket having RFID chip and a second antenna at a ticket retrieval opening of the ticket reader erases data from the ticket. The ticket processing system further contains a number of third antenna at the various parking spots which records a spot number into the ticket to facilitate the later locating the whereabouts of the parked vehicle.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to fee paying for vehicle parking lots, and more particularly to a ticket processing system that employs RFID technology. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     The present invention is an enhancement to the Republic of China, Taiwan, Patent No. M306369, filed by the present inventor, in making the fee paying process of parking lots even more convenient and speedily. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is that the ticket processing system utilizes RFID technique to record and access data in the parking tickets. The ticket processing system mainly contains at least a ticket reader positioned at the entry of the parking lot. A first antenna in the ticket reader writes data into a ticket having RFID chip and a second antenna at a ticket retrieval opening of the ticket reader erases data from the ticket. 
     Another objective of the ticket processing system is to provide a number of third antennas at the various parking spots in the parking lot which records a spot number into the ticket to facilitate the later locating the whereabouts of the parked vehicle, and the fee paying process of the parking lot. 
     Yet another objective of the ticket processing system is to provide a front panel device of the ticket reader which is capable of presenting the ticket at an appropriate angle to the vehicle owner so that the ticket could be quickly identified and picked up. The front panel device contains a front panel having a ticket entry opening and a ticket retrieval opening. The ticket retrieval opening has a wider upper portion and a narrower lower portion, and the ticket retrieval opening is able to block a lower portion of a coin-type ticket so that the ticket will not fall out of the ticket retrieval opening. In addition, a ticket passage channel is provided behind the front panel, connecting the ticking entry and retrieval openings. A first antenna and a first electromagnetic valve are both positioned adjacent to the passage channel and the ticket entry opening. When a ticket is dropped through the ticket entry opening, the first electromagnetic valve has its door closed to seal the passage channel. After data is written into the ticket through the first antenna, the door of the first electromagnetic valve is opened and the ticket drops towards the ticket retrieval opening. A section of the inner wall of the passage channel is closed in on towards the ticket retrieval opening, thereby forming a bulge which is more protrusive than the sections above and beneath the bulge, respectively. As such, a ticket at the ticket retrieval opening would have its lower rim closer to the bulge and its upper rim exposed out of the ticket retrieval opening. 
     The ticket reader further has an orientating and retardant device in the passage channel above the ticket retrieval opening whose purpose is to ensure that a ticket drops with a specific side facing forward and at a speed not too fast to bounce out of the ticket retrieval opening. The ticket would finally fall on a door of a second electromagnetic valve so that the ticket could be conveniently accessed out of the ticket retrieval opening. If the ticket is not removed after a predetermined period of time or after an external signal is received confirming that the ticket is not retrieved, a second antenna adjacent to the ticket retrieval opening is used to erase the data recorded in the ticket&#39;s chip and, then, the door of the second electromagnetic valve is opened to recover the ticket. 
     The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts. 
     Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TUE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing a ticket reader according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing a ticket processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
     The present invention provides a ticket processing system for parking lots that utilizes the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. According to the present invention, the tickets issued to the parked vehicles&#39; owners should contain a readable and writable RFID chip. 
     Then, the ticket processing system mainly contains a ticket reader having a ticket entry opening, a ticket retrieval opening, and a passage channel between the ticket entry and exit openings. In addition, a first antenna and a first electromagnetic valve are both positioned within substantial proximity to the passage channel and the ticket entry opening. Similarly, a second antenna and a second electromagnetic valve are both positioned within substantial proximity to the passage channel and the ticket retrieval opening. The basic operation flow of the ticket reader is as follows. Initially, the first electromagnetic valve has its door closed to seal the passage channel. A ticket to be issued to a vehicle owner is first dropped on the door of the first electromagnetic valve, and some data is written into the ticket via the first antenna. Then, the door of the first electromagnetic valve is opened, and the ticket drops through the passage channel to the ticket retrieval opening held by the door of the second electromagnetic valve to be picked up by the vehicle owner. If the ticket is not picked up after a period of time or after an external signal is received confirming that the ticket is not picked up, the data in the ticked is erased by the second antenna and the second electromagnetic valve opens its door to recover the ticket. 
       FIG. 1  provides a ticket reader according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is also an improvement over that disclosed in the Republic of China, Taiwan, Patent No. M306369. As illustrated, the ticket reader has a front panel device capable of presenting the ticket at an appropriate angle to the vehicle owner so that the ticket could be quickly identified and picked up. The front panel device contains a front panel  10  having a ticket entry opening  16  and a ticket retrieval opening  12 . The ticket retrieval opening  12  has a wider upper portion and a narrower lower portion, and the ticket retrieval opening  12  is able to block a lower portion of a coin-type ticket  30  so that the ticket  30  will not fall out of the ticket retrieval opening  12 . In addition, a ticket passage channel  13  is provided behind the front panel  10 , connecting the ticking entry and retrieval openings  16  and  12 . A first antenna  180   a  and a first electromagnetic valve  190   a  are both positioned adjacent to the passage channel  13  and the ticket entry opening  16 . When a ticket is dropped through the ticket entry opening  16 , the first electromagnetic valve  190   a  has its door  191   a  closed to seal the passage channel  13 . After data is written into the ticket  30  through the first antenna  180   a , the door  191   a  of the first electromagnetic valve  190   a  is opened and the ticket  30  drops towards the ticket retrieval opening  12 . A section of the inner wall of the passage channel  13  is closed in on towards the ticket retrieval opening  12 , thereby forming a bulge  15  which is more protrusive than the sections  151  and  153  above and beneath the bulge  15 , respectively. As such, a ticket  30  at the ticket retrieval opening  12  would have its lower rim  32  closer to the bulge  15  and its upper rim  31  exposed out of the ticket retrieval opening  12 . Preferably, the front panel  10  could have side walls bended backwards and the bulge  15  is extended between the side walls. This slant-forward design could allow a user an enlarged view and easy access to the ticket. 
     The ticket reader further has an orientating and retardant device  40  in the passage channel  13  above the ticket retrieval opening  12  whose purpose is to ensure that a ticket  30  drops with a specific side facing forward and at a speed not too fast to bounce out of the ticket retrieval opening  12 . The orientating and retardant device  40 , preferably, contains a front retardant piece  41  and a back retardant piece  42 , both made of a flexible material such as cloth, rubber, plastic, alloy capable of discharging electrostatics positioned in front of and behind the passage channel  13 , respectively. A lateral slit is reserved between a bottom rim of the front and back retardant pieces  41  and  42  so as to allow the ticket  30  to pass through. Preferably, the front and back retardant pieces  41  and  42  are arranged to slant towards each other into a V-like shape so as to facilitate the ticket  30 &#39;s dropping through the slit. 
     The ticket  30  would finally fall on a door  191   b  of a second electromagnetic valve  190   b  so that the ticket  30  could be conveniently accessed out of the ticket retrieval opening  12 . If the ticket  30  is not removed after a predetermined period of time, a second antenna  180   a  adjacent to the ticket retrieval opening  12  is used to erase the data recorded in the ticket  30 &#39;s chip and, then, the door  191   b  of the second electromagnetic valve  190   b  is opened to recover the ticket  30 . At both the lateral ends of a bottom rim of the ticket retrieval opening  12 , there are stopping plates extended inward into the ticket retrieval opening  12  so as to prevent the ticket  30  from falling out of the ticket retrieval opening  12 . 
     The ticket  30  could be a card-type ticket or a coin-type ticket. The data written into the ticket  30  by the first antenna  180   a  may include license plate number, time entering the parking lot, etc. These pieces of information could be displayed by a display screen of the front panel device. The ticket reader could also contains a fee calculating device which could read the information stored in a ticket  30 , calculate the parking fee accordingly, and put the fee amount on the display screen. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 . The ticket processing system  199  according to the present invention may further contains third antennas  300   a ,  300   b , and  300   c , positioned at various parking spots A 1 , A 2 , and A 3 , respectively, in the parking lot. Each of these parking spots is assigned a unique identification number and each spot is also equipped with a sensing device so that, when the sensing device senses a vehicle is parked in a specific spot, the sensing device instructs the appropriate third antenna,  300   a ,  300   b , or  300   c , to write the right identification number a ticket  30  of that vehicle. By having the parking spot number recorded in a ticket  30 , the vehicle owner could use the ticket  30  and a ticket reader as described above to find out the specific spot where his or her vehicle is parked. 
     The ticket processing system  199  could further contain an error checking device  200  which evaluates the data to be written into a ticket  30  by the first, second, or third antenna  180   a ,  180   b , and  300   a  (or  300   b ,  300   c ) to see if the data is correct. If the data is not correct, the error checking device  200  issues a signal to cancel the data writing action. 
     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.