Patent Publication Number: US-6339384-B1

Title: Toll booth credit device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to toll payment devices and, more specifically, to a device able to be positioned within a vehicle and hidden from sight for automatically paying a toll as the vehicle passes through a toll booth, the device being able to record the transmitted signal transmitted by a presently in use toll payment tag and transmitting the signal to a toll collection device upon passing through a toll booth. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Numerous types of toll booth pass cards have been provided in the prior art. An example of such a system is the E-Z Pass® System being used along the east coast of the United States. FIG. 1 illustrates a toll booth  10  utilizing such a system. As can be seen from this figure, a vehicle  12  is passing through the toll booth  10 . The vehicle  12  has an E-Z Pass® tag  14  positioned in the windshield  15  of the vehicle  12 . As the vehicle  12  passes through the toll booth  10 , an antenna  16  is triggered to transmit a signal to the E-Z Pass® tag  14 . The signal transmitted by the antenna  16  is indicated by the arrow labeled with the numeral  18 . Upon receipt of the signal  18 , the E-Z Pass® tag  14  transmits a signal including a tag identification number. The signal transmitted by the E-Z Pass® tag  14  is indicated by the arrow labeled with the numeral  20 . The toll is charged to the account identified by the tag identification information and the tag identification information is recorded and a display  22  is controlled to indicate that the toll was paid upon receipt of the signal  20  by the antenna  16 . The antenna  16  may also control a series of lights  17  for providing an additional indication as to payment of the toll. Certain problems with this system is that the tag is large and therefore may obstruct or distract the driver when positioned in the windshield  15 . The tag is also unattractive and distracts from the style of the vehicle. Furthermore, the tag is positioned in a highly visible location and thus is readily seen by thieves who may look to steal the tag. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,001,696; 5,204,675; 5,552,789; 5,955,970; 5,969,641; 6,018,641; 6,019,285; 6,049,289 and 6,091,343 are also illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,696 
     Inventor: George Louis Bannerman 
     Issued: Jan. 4, 1977 
     An electronic antenna adapted for concealment in an automobile or similar vehicle is tuned by the RF tuning circuits of a conventional radio receiver. In the preferred embodiment, the antenna is designed for the AM and FM broadcast bands and includes a concealed metal plate which may be suitably mounted at a convenient location on the vehicle such as being embedded in the crash panel. RF signals are received by the metal plate pick-up which is connected to both low frequency and high frequency RF amplifiers which amplify them and, after suitable filtering, provide a highly selective output to the conventional radio receiver. This is due to the fact that when the conventional radio receiver is tuned to a station, it presents a very high impedance load at that frequency thereby causing the low frequency RF amplifier of the electronic antenna to amplify that frequency in preference to all others. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,04,675 
     Inventor: Hiroyoshi Sekine 
     Issued: Apr. 20, 1993 
     A System for collecting a toll for a vehicle, on which a vehicle number plate is mounted, is disclosed. In the system, a radio card as a storage medium is provided in the vehicle. The radio card generates a data signal representing identification data including a vehicle number data. A radio card access system receives the data signal transmitted from the radio card and processes the data signal to obtain the vehicle number data contained in the radio card. A TV camera picks up an image corresponding to a vehicle number from the number plate of the vehicle. The radio card access system generates vehicle number plate data from the image picked up by the TV camera. The radio card access system compares the vehicle number data and vehicle number plate data and verifies whether or not the two sets of data coincide, the toll of the vehicle is calculated in accordance with the identification data stored in the storage medium. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,789 
     Inventor: Josef H. Schuermann 
     Issued: Sep. 3, 1996 
     An integrated vehicle communications system for on-board use within a vehicle which may also communicate with external portions of the system which includes miniaturized, self-contained read/write transponders  20 ,  22 ,  30  of the type disclosed in Schuermann U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,774, for providing functions within the vehicle, e.g., for sensing conditions and parameters. The on-board interrogation unit  10  interrogates and receives signals by RF communication provided by on-board antennas  14 ,  26 ,  28  between the interrogation unit and respective transponders for read/write responder operation. The processor  33  with display device  34   a  and/or control circuits  34   b  carries out on-board functions in response to such interrogation. A transponder  22  may serve as a vehicle operator key by which the system may verify key code, unlock the vehicle doors, as well as select and perform initialization functions including ignition, seat and seat belt adjustment, mirror positioning, and antitheft functions before vehicle entry by the operator. A transponder  30  may access external control data for premises or toll access, and may provide toll or credit or service transactions, as for authorization or verification or toll charge debiting purposes. The system may include also IR links. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,970 
     Inventor: Masamiki Ando et al. 
     Issue Sep. 21, 1999 
     In a toll gate system in which the toll is automatically and electronically collected through wireless communication between an on-board electronic device and a stationary electronic device installed at the toll gate, illegitimate or fraudulent actions committed in the system are detected by the on-board device. When such actions are detected, a communication function of the on-board device is made inoperative. After disposing the illegitimate actions properly, the communication function of the on-board device is restored so that the on-board device can be used again thereafter. The illegitimate action such as opening the on-board device for changing or reading the data contained therein can be detected by sensing removal of screws fastening a circuit board to a case of the on-boar device. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,641 
     Inventor: Yuki Nakamura et al. 
     Issued: Oct. 19, 1999 
     A plurality of antennas receives radio wave transmitted from a vehicle which comes in a toll collection area. Each antenna has at least three antenna elements, and the antennas are disposed in the horizontal direction and vertical direction. The signal analyzer analyzes the ID signal included in the received radio wave to identify the vehicle. The direction detector measures the direction of arrival (DOA) of radio wave received by two antennas selected by the antenna selector by way of two-dimensional interferometry principle in terms of the directional angle and depression angle. The location detector calculates the location of the vehicle in the horizontal direction and the height in the vertical direction of the vehicle as a location information based on the DOA of the radio wave measured by the direction detector. The vehicle tracking unit generates the locus data of the vehicle based on the location information calculated by the location detector and the information for identifying the vehicle analyzed by the signal analyzer. On the other hand, the video camera takes a picture of the vehicle which comes in the toll collection area to obtain the picture data. The data correlation unit judges whether the vehicle is a violator vehicle by correlating the picture data and locus data. The controller registers the locus data and picture data of the vehicle if the vehicle is a violator vehicle. On the other hand, the controller collects a prescribed toll from the vehicle if the vehicle is not a violator vehicle. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,641 
     Inventor: Kazuo Tsubouchi et al. 
     Issued: Jan. 25, 2000 
     A radio IC card system includes an IC and a toll collector. When an automobile with the IC card passes by a tollgate, the toll collector installed in the tollgate transmits a first radio signal which is spread modulated using a pseudorandom noise (PN) code from an antenna. The first radio signal is received by the antenna of the IC card and is transmitted to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) correlator. The SAW correlator extracts a PN code included in the received signal, and outputs a peak signal. An accumulation circuit accumulates the peak signal. A threshold discharger is activated to switch on a relay switch when the output voltage of the accumulation circuit exceeds a constant value. Thereby, the voltage of a battery is supplied to a data communication unit. Then, the identification code of the IC and a record of tollgates by which card the automobile has passed are transmitted via radio signal to the toll collector. 
     U.S. Pat No. 6,019,285 
     Inventor: Norihiro Isobe et al. 
     Issued: Feb. 1, 2000 
     An automatic toll charging system communicates by radio between roadside units disposed on each gate of a toll road and a vehicle-mounted unit mounted in a vehicle, and automatically charges a toll in a range from an entrance gate to an exit gate. In this system, an IC card is inserted in the vehicle-mounted unit,and payment information recorded in the IC card and entrance information received from a roadside unit, disposed at the entrance gate are recorded in the information recording part of the vehicle-mounted unit. In addition, the entrance information recorded in the information recording part is transmitted to the roadside unit disposed at the exit gate, and a toll payment process is executed. The entrance information is recorded in the IC card as a backup so the toll payment process can be executed even if a function of the vehicle-mounted unit is performed improperly. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,289 
     Inventor: Dennis W. Weggamon et al. 
     Issued: Apr. 11, 2000 
     A remote control system for opening and closing a barrier, such as a garage door, includes an RF receiver and a plurality of RF transmitters. The transmitters and receiver include circuitry programmed to provide transmission of encrypted code signals each time the transmitters are used and employing a code hopping method which prevents unauthorized signal interception or code “grabbing”. The system is operated in a code learning mode for the receiver by momentarily actuating a receiver learn mode button for receiving each transmitter identification code and a secret decryption key for that transmitter with the system automatically returning to the operate mode. Each transmitter identification and secret key code signal is automatically and randomly stored in an available and unused memory in the receiver circuitry. A multibit hopping code is transmitted from each transmitter to the receiver with each transmitter operation in the operate mode of the system and the hopping code changes with each transmission to prevent theft or code grabbing and resultant unauthorized operation of the system. 
     U.S. Pat No. 6,091,343 
     Inventor: Kurt A. Dykema et al. 
     Issued: Jul. 18, 2000 
     A trainable transmitter is described that is capable of learning and replicating both AM and FM signals. The trainable transmitter also has the capacity to learn and replicate RF signals in both the 27 MHz to 40 MHz and the 250 MHz to 450 MHz frequency bands commonly used in European garage door openers. The trainable transmitter allows an individual to input an identification of the country in which the trainable transmitter will be operated such that the trainable transmitter may then transmit the learned signals at the maximum level permitted for the identified county. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to toll payment devices and, more specifically, to a device able to be positioned within a vehicle and hidden from sight for automatically paying a toll as the vehicle passes through a toll booth, the device being able to record the transmitted signal transmitted by a presently in use toll payment tag and transmitting the signal to a toll collection device upon passing through a toll booth. 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device that will overcome the shortcomings of prior art devices. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device which is able to be positioned within a vehicle and hidden from sight so as not to obstruct the view of the driver or be readily visible to thieves. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device including a switch positioned so as not to obstruct the movement or vision of the driver for reading the signal from a toll payment tag. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device wherein the switch includes a visual indicator for informing the user when the signal from the toll payment tag has been recorded. 
     A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device which is integrally connected within a vehicle and thus cannot be stolen. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device positioned within a specially designed compartment or within the rear view mirror of the vehicle. 
     An even further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device wherein the switch is located on the dashboard or rearview mirror. 
     A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device which allows the toll payment tag to be removed a window of the vehicle and thus improves the vision of the driver and removing an unattractive tag from view. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device which allows use of a single toll payment tag in numerous vehicles without the need for transferring the toll payment tag between the vehicles. 
     An even further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device which can be preprogrammed with a user&#39;s toll payment tag information by a vehicle dealer prior to the user picking up the vehicle. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a toll tag recording device that simplifies use of presently and widely accepted toll payment tags. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a toll payment device that utilizes and improves present toll payment systems by preventing theft of toll payment tags and removes the need to position unattractive toll payment tags on a window of the vehicle. 
     Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
     A device for automatically paying a toll for a vehicle passing through a toll booth is disclosed by the present invention. The toll payment device includes a transmitting device and a switch. The transmitting device includes a receiver for receiving a signal from an antenna at the toll booth; a memory unit for storing identification information associated with the device; and a transmitter connected to both the receiver and memory unit for transmitting a signal including the stored identification information to the antenna upon receipt of the signal and allowing the antenna to charge an account associated with the device. The switch selectively disconnects the memory unit from the transmitter thereby preventing transmission of the identification information to the antenna and charging of the account associated with the device. The switch includes a first switch positioned adjacent a driver seat of the vehicle and a second normally closed switch connected between the memory unit and transmitter, wherein activation of the first switch toggles the second switch into an open position thereby disconnecting the memory unit and transmitter. The switch also includes a visual indicator for informing the user when the signal transmitted by the user&#39;s has been recorded by the device. The visual indicator can also provide an indication when the user&#39;s account is overdrawn and needs to be replenished. The transmitting device is preferably positioned in a hidden location such as under a hood of the vehicle, within a compartment inside the vehicle or within a rear view mirror of the vehicle. 
     To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference character designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle paying a toll automatically using the conventionally known system; 
     FIG. 2 is perspective view of a vehicle including the toll payment device of the present invention positioned therein for use in paying a toll; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inside cabin of a vehicle including the toll payment device of the present invention positioned within a compartment therein; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vehicle including the toll payment device of the present invention positioned under the vehicle hood; 
     FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the toll payment device of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 6 is block diagram of the toll payment device of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCED NUMERALS 
     Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the Figures illustrate the toll payment device of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing figures. 
       10  conventional toll booth 
       12  vehicle 
       14  conventional automatic toll paying device 
       15  windshield of vehicle 
       16  antenna 
       17  series of toll payment indicator lights on antenna 
       18  signal transmitted by antenna to vehicle passing through toll booth 
       20  signal transmitted by toll paying device in response to receipt of signal from antenna 
       22  display indicating toll was paid 
       24  signal transmitted by toll payment device of the present invention in response to receipt of signal from antenna 
       26  cabin of vehicle 
       28  compartment within cabin of vehicle 
       30  toll payment device of present invention 
       31  first visual indicator 
       32  transmission device 
       33  second visual indicator 
       34  switch for deactivating toll payment device 
       36  lid selectively covering compartment 
       38  driver of vehicle 
       40  hood of vehicle 
       42  wire connecting switch and transmission device 
       44  transmitter 
       46  receiver 
       48  power source 
       50  memory 
       52  second normally closed switch between memory and transmitter 
       54  arm of second switch 
       54  transmitter 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIGS. 2 through 6 illustrate the toll payment device of the present invention indicated generally by the numeral  30 . 
     The toll payment device  30  of the present invention is shown in FIG.  2 . This figure illustrates a toll booth  10  with a vehicle  12  having the toll payment device  30  of the present invention installed therein. The toll payment device  30  is installed in a non-visible position and thus neither obstructs the view of the driver nor is able to be seen by potential thieves. The toll payment device  30  is able to record the signal transmitted by the user&#39;s toll payment tag and transmit the recorded signal upon passage through the toll booth  10 . As the vehicle  12  passes through the toll booth  10 , the antenna  16  is triggered to transmit the signal  18 . This signal is received by the toll payment device  30  and in response thereto the recorded signal including the tag identification information recorded from the toll payment tag is transmitted back to the antenna  16 . The signal transmitted by the toll payment device  30  is indicated by the arrow labeled with the numeral  24 . Upon receipt of the signal  24  by the antenna  16 , the display  22  is controlled to indicate that the toll was charged to the account represented by the tag identification information. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a cabin  26  within the vehicle  12 . Within the cabin  26  is a compartment  28  in which the toll payment device  30  is positioned. The toll payment device  30  includes a transmission device  32  and a manually operated switch  34  connected thereto. The transmission device  32  is positioned within the compartment  28  and the switch  34  is positioned on an outer side of the compartment  28 . The switch  34  is positioned so as to be readily activated by a driver of the vehicle  12 . The compartment  28  includes a cover  36  for selectively sealing the compartment  28  and thereby hiding the transmission device  32  of the toll payment device  30 . The switch  34  is able to be toggled into a first connected position for normal operation of the toll payment device  30 , to a second position for reading and recording a signal from a toll payment tag and a third position for disconnecting the memory storing the recorded signal from the transmitter thereby preventing a toll from being charged to the user&#39;s account upon passage through a toll booth  10 . A first visual indicator  31  is positioned on the transmission device  32  for indicating when the signal from the toll payment tag has been recorded. The first visual indicator is preferably a green light emitting diode (LED). A second visual indicator  33  for indicating when recording of the signal from the toll payment tag has not been accomplished. The second visual indicator  33  is also able to alert the user when the account for the toll payment device is overdrawn. The second visual indicator is preferably a red light emitting diode (LED). 
     An alternative position for the transmission device  32  of the toll payment device  30  is shown in FIG.  4 . FIG. 4 shows the transmission device  32  in a position similar to that of FIG. 2, under the hood  40  of the vehicle  12 . The switch  34  is positioned adjacent a driver  38  of the vehicle  12  and thus can be readily activated by the driver  38  of the vehicle  12 . The switch  34  is connected to the transmission device  32  by a connection wire  42  extending from the transmission device  32  and into the vehicle  12  to the switch  34 . The first and second visual indicators  31  and  33  are positioned adjacent the switch  34  and can be easily viewed by the driver  38 . The first and second visual indicators  31  and  33  are also connected to the transmission device  32  via the connection wire  42 . The transmission device  32  is preferably positioned so as to be able to readily receive the signal  18  transmitted by the antenna  16  as the vehicle  12  passes through the toll booth  10 . An example of a suitable position for the transmission device  32  is against the front grill of the vehicle  12  so that the signal may be received through the grill plate of the vehicle  12 . Activation of the switch  34  will deactivate the transmission device  32  and thus prevent the transmission of the signal  24  tot he antenna  16 . In such an instant, the driver  38  will have to pay the toll manually. This switch  34  is beneficial when the driver  38  is not the owner of the vehicle  12  and does not wan the owner to be charged for the toll. 
     An enlarged view of the toll payment device  30  of the present invention is illustrated in FIG.  5 . As can be seen from this figure, the toll payment device  30  includes the transmission device  32  and the switch  34 . The connection wire  42  connects the switch  34  to the transmission device  32 . The switch  34  is a manually activated three position switch  34  and is utilized to deactivate the transmission device  32  to prevent the paying of a toll thereby, for enabling recording of the signal from a toll payment tag and placing the toll payment device in an operating position for paying tolls upon passage through a toll booth. Placement of the switch  34  in the first position is useful when driving a vehicle belonging to another person or in any other instance when it is not desired to have the toll charged to the account represented by the toll payment device  30 . The first and second visual indicators  31  and  33  are positioned adjacent the switch  34  and can be easily viewed by the driver  38 . The first and second visual indicators  31  and  33  are also connected to the transmission device  32  via the connection wire  42 . The first visual indicator  31  indicates, during recording of the signal from a toll payment tag, that the signal has been recorded successfully and, during operation of the toll payment device  30 , that the toll payment device is operating properly. The second visual indicator  33  is illuminated to indicate that the toll payment device  30  is in a bypass position in which a toll will not be paid, when the signal has not been recorded properly and when a user&#39;s toll payment account is overdrawn and must be replenished. 
     A block diagram illustrating the toll payment device  30  is shown in FIG.  6 . As can be seen from this figure, the transmission device  32  includes a processor  44  for controlling operation of the transmission device  32 . Connected to the processor  44  is a transmitter  56 , a receiver  46  and a memory unit  50 . The receiver  46  receives the signal transmitted by the antenna  16  within the toll booth  10 . Upon receipt of this signal the receiver  46  signals the processor  44  to retrieve the recorded signal from the memory unit  50 . The processor  44  then triggers the transmitter  44  to transmit the retrieved signal to the toll booth antenna. The processor  44  and receiver  46  are both connected to an internal power supply  48 . Alternatively, the power supply  48  can be the vehicle battery and the transmitting device  32  can thus be powered by the vehicle battery. The memory unit  50  is connected to the transmitter  44  for supplying the tag identification information thereto for transmission. The tag identification information is transmitted by the transmitter  44  upon receipt of a trigger signal from the receiver  46 . A second switch  52  is connected between the processor  44  and the memory unit  50 . The three position switch  34  is connected between the power source  48  and the transmitter  44 . When the switch  34  is toggled into the first position, a voltage is removed from application to the processor  44 . Removal of this voltage to the processor  44  causes the processor  44  to toggle the arm  54  of the second switch  52  into the open position. The second switch  52  is a normally closed switch thereby normally connecting the memory unit  50  to the transmitter  44 . When the switch  34  is toggled into the first position, a voltage is applied to the toggle arm  54  of the second switch  52  causing it to move into the open position thereby disconnecting the memory unit  50  and the processor  44 . The processor  44  is thus unable to retrieve the tag identification information from the memory unit  50  and thus cannot transmit this information back to the antenna  16  of the toll booth  10 . Thus the account associated with the toll payment device  30  is not charged and the driver must pay the toll manually. The processor  44  will retain the second switch  52  in the open position for a predetermined period of time thereby disconnecting the memory unit  50  and the transmitter  44  for a time period able to allow the vehicle to pass through the toll booth without activating the antenna to charge the account memory unit  50  and the transmitter  44 . At this time the second visual indicator  33  is illuminated to indicate to the driver that the switch  34  is in the first position. After the predetermined time period the switch  34  will return to the open position thereby preventing the application of voltage to the second switch  54  and returning the toll payment device  30  to its normal position and ready for passage through subsequent toll booths. When the first switch  34  is in the second position, a predetermined voltage is applied to the processor  44 . In response to receipt of this voltage, the processor  44  causes the transmitter  56  to transmit a signal similar to the signal transmitted by the antenna at a toll booth. This signal causes the toll payment tag to transmit a response signal including identification information to the receiver  46 . This information is recorded in the memory unit  50  by the processor  44 . Upon completion of recording in the memory unit  50 , the first indicator light  31  is illuminated. If the memory unit  50  did not property record the signal from the toll payment tag, the second indicator light  33  will become illuminated. When the switch  34  is placed in the third position, the toll payment device  30  will operate normally and the first indicator light  31  will be illuminated. 
     The operation of the toll payment device  30  will now be described with reference to the figures. In operation, the transmitting device  32  of the toll payment device  30  is first installed within a vehicle  12  so as to be hidden from view. The switch  34  is connected between the transmitting device  32  and the power source  48 . The switch  34  is positioned adjacent the drivers seat of the vehicle and thus can be readily activated by the driver. Once installed, the toll payment device  30  must be set up to record the identification information of a toll payment tag of the user. The identification information is included in a signal which is transmitted by the toll payment tag upon passing through a toll booth. In order to record this information, the switch  34  is placed in the second position. When the first switch  34  is in the second position, a predetermined voltage is applied by the power source  48  to the processor  44 . In response to receipt of this voltage, the processor  44  causes the transmitter  56  to transmit a signal similar to the signal transmitted by the antenna at a toll booth. This signal causes the toll payment tag to transmit a response signal including identification information to the receiver  46 . This information is recorded in the memory unit  50  by the processor  44 . Upon completion of recording in the memory unit  50 , the first indicator light  31  is illuminated. If the memory unit  50  did not properly record the signal from the toll payment tag, the second indicator light  33  will become illuminated. At this point the toll payment device  30  is ready for operation. 
     As a vehicle  12  is riding along a highway it frequently encounters a toll booth on a toll road. At the approach of a toll booth  10 , the vehicle  12  passes over a switching device on the ground in front of the toll lane to trigger a toll payment system. Upon triggering the toll payment system, an antenna  16  is caused to transmit a signal to the transmitting device  32  of the vehicle  12 . The receiver  46  within the transmitting device  32  receives the signal transmitted by the antenna  16 . Upon receipt of this signal the receiver triggers the processor  44  to retrieve the stored tag identification information from the memory unit  50 . Upon receipt of the tag identification information, the tag identification information stored within the memory unit  50  is provided to the transmitter  56 . The processor  44  then controls the transmitter  56  to transmit a signal  24  including the tag identification information to the antenna  44 . Upon receipt of the signal  24  by the antenna  16 , the display  22  is controlled to indicate that the toll has been paid and the account associated with the tag identification information is charged an amount equal to the toll. The first visual indicator  31  remains illuminated as long as the toll is paid and the account associated with the tag identification information is not overdrawn. Should the account be overdrawn, a signal is received back from the antenna indicative of such and the second visual indicator is illuminated. At this time the first visual indicator is turned off. 
     At times, a driver wishes to pass through a toll booth and pay the toll manually thereby avoiding the charge to the account. In this instant, the driver toggles the switch  34  into the first position. The switch  34  is connected between the power source  48  and the processor  44 . When the switch  34  is activated, a voltage is removed from application to an input port of the processor  44 . In response to the removal of the voltage, the processor applies a voltage to the second switch  52  causing the arm  54  of the second switch  52  to toggle into the open position. The second switch  52  is a normally closed switch thereby normally connecting the memory unit  50  to the processor  44 . When the switch  34  is activated, a voltage is applied to the toggle arm  54  of the second switch  52  causing it to move into the open position thereby disconnecting the memory unit  50  and the processor  44 . At this time the second visual indicator is illuminated to indicate that the toll payment device  30  is in the bypass state. The processor  44  is thus unable to retrieve the tag identification information from the memory unit  50 . The tag identification information cannot be transmitted by the transmitter  56  back to the antenna  16  of the toll booth  10 . The account associated with the toll payment device  30  will thus not be charged and the driver must pay the toll manually. The switch  34  remains activated for a predetermined period of time thereby disconnecting the memory unit  50  and the processor  44  for a time period able to allow the vehicle to pass through the toll booth. Thus, the vehicle may pass through the toll booth without activating the antenna to charge the account memory unit  50  and the transmitter  44 . After the predetermined time period the switch  34  will return to the open position thereby preventing the application of voltage to the second switch  54  and returning the toll payment device  30  to its normal position and ready for passage through subsequent toll booths. 
     From the above description it can be seen that the toll payment device of the present invention is able to overcome the shortcomings of prior art devices by providing a toll payment device which is able to be positioned within a vehicle and hidden from sight so as not to obstruct the view of the driver or be readily visible to thieves. The toll payment device includes a switch positioned adjacent the driver&#39;s seat for deactivating the device to prevent automatic payment of a toll and is integrally connected within a vehicle such as under the hood of the vehicle, within a specially designed compartment or within the rear view mirror of the vehicle and thus cannot be stolen. Furthermore, the toll payment device of the present invention is simple and easy to use and economical in cost to manufacture. 
     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, 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. 
     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.