Patent Publication Number: US-9424708-B2

Title: Parking meter

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is the US national stage of International Patent Application PCT/CN2014/076476 filed on Apr. 29, 2014, which, in turn, claims priority to Chinese Patent Application CN 201320369004.8 filed on Jun. 26, 2013, to Chinese Patent Application CN 201320437659.4 filed on Jul. 23, 2013, and to Chinese Patent Application CN 201320500610.9 filed on Aug. 26, 2013. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to parking fee charging management devices, and in particular, relates to a parking meter. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Parking meters, acting as a parking fee charging management tool, are basically used outdoors. During long term use, the coin path of the parking meter may be blocked by foreign substances or manually by others. In the prior art, the coin path of the parking meter is generally directly provided on the front panel of the meter mechanism of the parking meter, and the front panel and the rear panel of the shell of the meter mechanism are coupled via such a securing member as a screw. When the coin path is blocked, the cover of the meter needs to be firstly opened, and then the shell of the meter mechanism is taken out from the meter base. Since the coin path is relatively narrow, the blocking foreign substances cannot be simply cleared from the front directly, the shell of the meter mechanism needs to be opened to remove the front panel. In this way, the foreign substances in the coil path may be removed from the inner side of the front panel. Such operations for clearing the coin path are very troublesome, and meanwhile the normal working of the meter is affected. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention is intended to overcome the defect in the prior art, and to provide a parking meter, wherein when a coin slot of the parking meter is blocked, the clearance is very convenient. 
     To solve the above technical problem, the present invention employs the following technical solutions: 
     A parking meter is designed and used, which comprises a meter base, a meter cover, and a meter mechanism installed inside the meter base and the meter cover, wherein: a coin path is provided at a lower section of a front panel of a shell of the meter mechanism, the lower section of the front panel comprising a first panel and a second panel in a step form, the first panel protruding relative to the second panel, the coin path being provided on the first panel; the parking meter further comprises a slider, the slider comprising a slider upper section and a slider lower section in a step form; wherein a through hole facilitating passing through of the slider is provided on a joint wall of the first panel and the second panel and below the coin path; a sliding groove facilitating upward and downward sliding of the slider is provided on the second panel; a coin slot is provided on the slider upper section, the slider upper section mates with the coin path, and the slider lower section mates with the sliding groove; when the meter is assembled, the joint wall is abutted against an upper end face of the meter base, the slider lower section and the sliding groove are inside the meter base. 
     The slider is made from plastic, and a clip slot is provided on the slider upper section; wherein a metal block is installed in the clip slot, and the coin slot is provided in the metal block. A tail portion of the slider lower section is in a U shape, bumps being formed on outer sides of two feet of the U shape; and correspondingly, a bayonet mating with the bump is formed on a side wall of a tail portion of the sliding groove. 
     Wave teeth are formed on the slider lower section. 
     As an improvement of the present invention, the parking meter further comprises a protection door structure for protecting a card insertion opening of a POS machine, the protection door structure comprising an installation base, a protection door, and a guiding plate; wherein the installation base is in a square arch shape, is installed and secured on the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism, and is positioned above the card insertion opening; the protection door is in an H shape, and comprises an upper shaft rod and a lower block, and an intermediate section; the upper shaft rod of the protection door is freely disposed at a top portion of the installation base; the intermediate section of the protection door is positioned inside an square arch of the installation base, and the length of the intermediate section is greater than the width of the square arch in a top-bottom direction; the guiding plate is parallel with a length direction of a card insertion slot of the POS machine, one end of the guiding plate is secured on a lateral side of the protection door, and the other end of the guiding plate extends into the interior of the meter; and the protection door is capable of moving in a top-bottom direction and rotating in an inner-outer direction relative to the installation base, and the lower block of the protection door is capable of blocking the card insertion opening. 
     A lower end face of the lower block of the protection door is an inverted triangle bevel or a circular arc surface. 
     As an improvement of the present invention, the parking meter further comprises a battery holder disposed inside the meter, a columnar battery being installed in the battery holder, the battery holder being provided with an opening for disposing or removing the battery and being provided with a battery baffle, the battery baffle further comprises an upper holding portion and a lower guiding rail portion; wherein a thick-wall portion of the battery holder at a side portion of the opening is provided with a guiding groove mating with the guiding rail portion, a battery holder wall at a distal end of the guiding groove being provided with a gap for disposing or removing the battery baffle; and the guiding rail portion of the battery baffle is slidably clamped in the guiding groove, the holding portion of the battery baffle presses and holds the battery inside the battery holder. 
     The guiding groove is parallel with an axial direction of the battery; and an inner side face of the holding portion of the battery baffle is an arc surface, which mates with a cylindrical surface of the battery. 
     The gap is provided on an upper end of the guiding groove. 
     As compared against the prior art, the parking meter according to the present invention achieves the following beneficial effects: 
     1. A wider coin path is provided and a sliding groove is configured, a coin slot is provided on a slider. When the meter is normally used, the slider is held and secured by the meter base and the meter mechanism and fails to be removed, when the coin path is blocked, the shell of the meter mechanism only needs to be taken out from the meter base, and then the slider is slid out from the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism, thereby clearing the foreign substances in the coin path, with no need of removing the front panel of the shell of the meter in the prior art. In addition, since the coin path is relatively wide, the coin path may be cleared from the front of the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism. Therefore, the clearing of the coin path is very convenient, which effectively ensure normal working of the meter. The slider is made from plastics easily subjected to injection molding, wherein the manufacture is convenient and the cost is low. Meanwhile, a metal block is configured to mate with the clip groove, and the coin slot is arranged on the metal block to mate with the metal coins, thereby improving the abrasive resistance of the coin slot structure. By the design of the U shape at the tail portion of the slider lower section and the bumps thereon, a bayonet arranged on the side wall at the tail portion of the sliding groove mates with the bump, which facilitates the securing of the slider. 
     2. The card insertion opening of the POS machine of the meter is provided with a protection door structure, which implements protection of the card insertion opening of the POS machine of the meter, thereby preventing the card insertion opening from rain, dust and foreign substances and ensuring normal use of the meter in terms of card swiping payment. The lower end face of the block at the lower end of the protection door is an inverted triangle bevel or a circular arc surface, which facilitates insertion and removing of the card. 
     3. A battery baffle that may be movably placed or removed is used, and a guiding groove is designed such that the battery baffle may slide into the groove to press and hold the battery inside the battery holder, with no need of screw off or screw on the screw on the cover plate of the batter holder by using a tool. Therefore, the installation and replacement of the battery are convenient, with no need of preserving a relatively great operation space, thereby achieving a compact structure of the meter. An inner side face of the holding portion of the battery baffle is an arc surface, which better mates with the battery. As such, the abutting and contact area is large, and the stability is good. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional view showing appearance of a parking meter according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional schematic structural view of a meter mechanism of the parking meter according to the present invention (when the meter cover is removed); 
         FIG. 3  is a three-dimension explosive schematic view of a front panel of a shell of the meter mechanism according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a three-dimensional structural schematic view of a slider according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic front view of the slider and the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism when the slider is clipped and held, that is, in the normal working state of the meter according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic front view of the slider and the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism when the slider slides out, that is, when the blocking foreign substances in the coin path need to be cleared according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a three-dimension explosive schematic view of the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism and the protection door structure according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic rear view of the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism of the protection door structure according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic view of enlargement of M in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is an A-A sectional view in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a B-B sectional view in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a right schematic view of the meter mechanism (when the cover of the meter is removed) according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic view of a transversely sectional structure of the parking meter according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic view of enlargement of the sectional structure of a battery baffle according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is further described with reference to preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     A parking meter according to the present invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , comprises a meter base  50 , a meter cover  51 , and a meter mechanism  10  and a POS machine  90  installed inside the meter base  50  and the meter cover  51 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 6 , a coin path  20  is provided at a lower section of a front panel  11  of a shell of the meter mechanism  10 , the lower section of the front panel  11  comprising a first panel  112  and a second panel  111  in a step form, the first panel  111  protruding relative to the second panel  112 , the coin path  20  being provided on the first panel  111 ; the parking meter further comprises a slider  30 , the slider  30  comprising a slider upper section  31  and a slider lower section  32  in a step form; wherein a through hole  113  facilitating passing through of the slider  30  is provided on a joint wall  114  of the first panel  112  and the second panel  111  and below the coin path  20 ; a sliding groove  40  facilitating upward and downward sliding of the slider  30  is provided on the second panel  112 ; a coin slot  313  is provided on the slider upper section  31 , the slider upper section  31  mates with the coin path  20 , and the slider lower section  32  mates with the sliding groove  40 ; when the meter is assembled, the joint wall  13  is abutted against an upper end face of the meter base  50 , the slider lower section  32  and the sliding groove  40  are inside the meter base  50 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , for ease of manufacture and cost saving, the slider  30  is formed from plastics by injecting molding. Considering the friction caused by coin insertion to the coin path, to improve the abrasive resistance of the coin path, a clip slot  311  is provided on the slider upper section  31 , wherein a metal block  312  is installed in the clip slot  311 , and the coin slot  313  is provided in the metal block  312 . Nevertheless, if factors such as the cost and manufacture are not considered, the slider  30  may be entirely made from metals; or if the abrasive resistance of the coin slot  313  on the slider  30  is not considered, the slider  30  may be entirely made from plastics by injection molding. However, in these two cases, there is no need to provide the clip slot  311  and configure the metal block  312 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 6 , a tail portion of the slider lower section is in a U shape, bumps  322  being formed on outer sides of two feet  321  of the U shape; and correspondingly, and a bayonet  41  mating with the bump  322  is formed on a side wall of a tail portion of the sliding groove  40 , the bayonet  41  on the side wall of the tail portion of the sliding groove  40  mating with the bumps  322 , thereby facilitating securing of the slider  30 . For ease of the sliding operation of the slider  30 , wave teeth  323  are formed on the slider lower section  32 . Hereinafter, with reference to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 6 , the parking meter and the coil slot of the parking meter according to the present invention are described in detail in terms of assembly and clearance of the coin slot. 
     During assembly, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the slider upper section  31  is upwardly slid into the coin path  20 , the slider lower section  32  is clipped in the sliding groove  40 , the bumps  322  on the outer side of the two feet  321  of the U shape are respectively clipped into the bayonets  41  on the side wall of the tail portion of the sliding groove; then a lower portion of the entire parking meter body that has been assembled is clipped into the meter base  50 . In this case, a hinge wall  113  of the first panel  111  and the second panel  112 , together with the step-like end face of the slider upper section  31  abut against the upper face of the meter base  50 , the slider lower section  32  and the sliding groove  40  are disposed in the meter base  50 ; and finally, the cover  51  is placed, and the assembly is completed. The three-dimensional appearance of the assembled parking meter is as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     When the coin path of the meter is blocked and needs to be cleared, the cover  51  is firstly removed, and then the meter mechanism is taken out from the meter base  50 . With reference to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , the two feet  321  of the U shape at the tail portion of the slider lower section  32  are pressed, such that the bumps  322  on the outer side of the feet  321  are detached from the clip slot  41 . Then, a downward force is applied to cause the slider  30  to slide out from the coin path  20  and the sliding groove  40 , reaching a state as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In this case, the coin slot  313  on the slider  30  may be cleared, and meanwhile, since the coin path  20  is relatively wide, the coin path  20  may be directly cleared. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 11 , the parking meter according to the present invention further comprises a protection door structure  80  for protecting a card insertion opening  91  of a POS machine  90 , the protection door structure  80  comprising an installation base  810 , a protection door  820 , and a guiding plate  830 ; wherein the installation base  810  is in a square arch shape, is installed and secured on the front panel  11  of the shell of the meter mechanism  10 , and is positioned above the card insertion opening  91 ; the protection door  823  is in an H shape, and comprises an upper shaft rod  820  and a lower block  821 , and an intermediate section  820 ; the upper shaft rod  820  of the protection door  823  is freely disposed at a top portion of the installation base  810 ; the intermediate section  821  of the protection door is positioned inside an square arch  810  of the installation base  811 , and the length of the intermediate section  830  is greater than the width of the square arch  811  in a top-bottom direction; the guiding plate  822  is parallel with a length direction of a card insertion slot  92  of the POS machine  90 , one end of the guiding plate  830  is secured on a lateral side of the protection door  820 , and the other end of the guiding plate  823  extends into the interior of the meter; and the protection door  820  is capable of moving in a top-bottom direction and rotating in an inner-outer direction relative to the installation base  810 , and the lower block  830  of the protection door  820  is capable of blocking the card insertion opening  91 . 
     During assembly, the protection door  820  (provided with the guiding plate  830 ) is firstly made to align with the position corresponding to the front panel of the shell of the meter mechanism  10 , square arch  811  of the installation base  810  is made to align with the intermediate section  832  of the protection door  820 , and then the installation base  810  is secured on the front panel  11  via screws. In this case, the upper end shaft rod  821  of the protection door  820  is disposed at the top portion of the installation base  810 , and is clipped and held between an inner wall extending from the top portion of the installation base  810  and the front panel  11 . Therefore, the protection door  820  is capable of moving in a top-bottom direction and rotating in an inner-outer direction relative to the installation base  10 . 
     When a car owner swipes the card for payment, the card is inserted along an outer inclined surface of the lower end face  8221  of the block  822  into the card insertion slot  91 , the protection door  820  moves upwards and rotates slightly, the card is continuously inserted into the card insertion slot  92 , the card moves forwards along the guiding plate  830  (and is pressed against by the guiding plate  830 ) until the card is inserted into a suitable position, and hence the payment operations of the user are complete. When the card is removed, the card slides out along the inner inclined surface of the lower end face  8221  of the block  822 , and the user completely removes the card. Under the gravity of the guiding plate  830 , the protection door moves downwards and slightly rotates, until the lower block  822  blocks the card insertion opening  91 , thereby achieving the protection effect. 
     It should be noted that when a lower end face  8221  of the lower block  822  of the protection door  820  is designed to an inverted triangle bevel or a circular arc surface, when the card is inserted or removed, the protection door  820  may be moved upwards with the hand, and the protection door  820  may fall back under the action of the gravity thereof. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 12  to  FIG. 14 , the parking meter according to the present invention further comprises a battery holder  60  disposed inside the meter, a columnar battery  70  being installed in the battery holder  60 , the battery holder  60  being provided with an opening  611  for disposing or removing the battery  70  and being provided with a battery baffle  630 , the battery baffle  631  further comprises an upper holding portion  632  and a lower guiding rail portion  630 ; wherein a thick-wall portion of the battery holder at a side portion of the opening  611  is provided with a guiding groove  612  mating with the guiding rail portion  632 , a battery holder wall at a distal end of the guiding groove  612  being provided with a gap  613  for disposing or removing the battery baffle  630 ; and the guiding rail portion  632  of the battery baffle  630  is slidably clamped in the guiding groove  612 , the holding portion  631  of the battery baffle  630  presses and holds the battery  70  inside the battery holder  60 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 12  and  FIG. 13 , according to the present invention, the long side direction of the battery holder  60 , i.e., the axial direction of the battery  70 , is a vertical direction; the guiding groove  612  is parallel with the axial direction of the battery  70 ; the gap  613  is disposed at an upper distal end of the guiding groove  612 ; after the battery  70  is disposed into the battery holder  60 , the battery baffle  630  is placed from the gap  613  at the upper end of the guiding groove  612 , and then the guiding rail portion  632  of the battery baffle  630  slides downwards into the guiding groove  612 ; the lower end of the guiding groove  612  is slightly lower than the intermediate position of the battery  70 . As such, it is ensured that when the battery baffle  630  slides to reach the terminal, the battery baffle  630  still abuts against the intermediate area of the battery  70 , thereby achieving good stability. As illustrated in  FIG. 14 , an inner side face of the holding portion  631  of the battery baffle  630  is an arc surface, which mates with the cylindrical surface of the battery  70 . In the present invention, the area of the battery baffle  630  may be made far less than the area of the opening  611  of the battery holder  60 . In addition, the design of the arc surface of the inner side face enables the holding portion  631  of the battery baffle  630  to abut against the battery  70  tightly, thereby improving stability. 
     Detailed above is further description of the present invention with reference to some preferred embodiments, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in terms of implementation. Persons of ordinary skill in the art shall understand that other simple deductions and replacements may be made without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention. Such deductions and replacements shall be deemed as coming within the scope of the present invention.