Patent Application
20240112574
The present invention relates generally to parking enforcement systems and, more particularly, to methods, systems and devices for automatically detecting the presence of a vehicle in a location where parking is prohibited.
There are many locations where it is undesirable for vehicles to park. For example a vehicle is a safety hazard if parked in a fire lane, in a bike lane or too near a fire hydrant. Unfortunately, clearly marking such “no parking” areas does not deter some people from parking there anyway. Thus, it is necessary to issue parking violation notices (e.g., parking tickets) to persons that park where prohibited. Such violations typically require a fine to be paid. However, escalating penalties can be levied.
In order to issue a parking violation notice, citation or ticket to an illegally parked vehicle, a person authorized to issue parking citations (e.g. police officer or parking enforcement officer) must issue the notice to the vehicle when it is in the illegal parking location. A given officer cannot monitor everywhere at once and illegal parking is often short term in nature. Thus, many violations are not cited. Adding more enforcement officers cannot realistically capture all illegal parking acts. And adding more officers adds significant costs to the enforcement process.
Thus, there is a need to make the citation process automated for prohibited parking areas so that fewer violations go uncited and without increasing enforcement costs by adding more enforcement officers.
Disclosed are devices, systems and methods for monitoring and managing enforcement of prohibited or “no parking” areas. In one aspect, a “no parking” enforcement device can include an embedded processor and microcontroller used to operate timers, decorative and targeted lights, cameras, and vehicle detection sensing (magnetometer, radar, etc. . . . ) means. The enforcement device is connected to the internet through either hard-wiring, Wi-Fi, a cellular modem or other wireless means. Power is supplied via hard-wiring, battery, and/or solar panels.
The enforcement device can be configured in the form of a bollard and monitor a single or multiple areas that have been designated by a governmental authority as “No Parking” areas. The enforcement device can be mounted adjacent the area(s) where a “No Parking” condition is desired to be enforced. A variety of vehicle detection means can be employed to detect a vehicle in the “No Parking” location. A violation notice and pertinent vehicle data and images are relayed to a remote computer system or to the municipality for processing and issuance of a parking citation to the vehicle's owner.
The parking enforcement device can be secured to a surface adjacent to the area designated as NO PARKING or to any other structure or can be incorporated into other traffic control devices or items of infrastructure (e.g. light poles).
In an example embodiment, the enforcement device can include an elongated hollow body, a window provided to the tubular body, a battery, an internal frame assembly disposed inside of the elongated hollow body, and a camera disposed inside of the elongated hollow body. The internal frame assembly defines a cavity in which the battery is located. A camera support pole extends vertically upwards from the internal frame assembly. The camera is secured to the camera support pole and located vertically along the camera support pole such that the camera views outward through the window. A solar panel can be provided atop the parking enforcement device to recharge the battery.
The window can be a portion of the elongated hollow body or it can be a separate assembly disposed on the elongated hollow body. A cap can be disposed vertically atop the elongated hollow body. A top surface of the cap can include a planar surface that is angled to intersect a horizontal plane. A solar panel can be disposed on the top surface of the cap.
A plurality of solar cells can be disposed on a surface on top of the elongated hollow body. The surface on top of the elongated hollow body can be a planar surface that is angled to intersect a horizontal plane.
A pair of battery enclosure panels can be secured to the internal frame assembly and located such that the pair of battery enclosure panels enclose the cavity in which the battery is located.
The elongated hollow body can be disposed atop the base plate.
The elongated hollow body can have a constant outer diameter from a top to a bottom thereof.
An electronics board can be secured to the internal frame assembly. The electronics board can include a control board comprising a microprocessor and memory. The camera can be electronically coupled to the control board. The electronics board includes wireless communications means. The electronics board can include a solar charge controller that is electrically coupled to the plurality of solar calls and to the battery. The electronics board can include an impact sensor.
The processor can be configured to monitor an area designated as NO PARKING for the presence of a vehicle in the area designated as NO PARKING. The processor can be configured to utilize the camera aimed at the area designated as NO PARKING to perform a machine vision analysis of the area designated as NO PARKING for the presence of vehicles in the area designated as NO PARKING. The processor can be configured to utilize the camera to capture an image of a license plate of the vehicle in the area designated as NO PARKING and transmit the image of the license plate to a back office computing system. The back office computing system can analyze the image data to determine the make, model and/or color of the vehicle in the monitored area.
The processor can be configured to determine that a parking violation has occurred upon determining that the vehicle is present in the area designated as NO PARKING or upon expiration of a grace period after entering said area. The processor can be configured to initiate a request for towing services upon an expiration of a predetermined period of time following a determination that the vehicle is present in the area designated as NO PARKING without the vehicle having left the area designated as NO PARKING. Image data of the entry of a vehicle into the NO PARKING area that was captured by the camera can be relayed to a remote computing system such as a back office or central control computing system.
The above summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, or describe each embodiment, aspect, implementation, feature or advantage of the invention. The detailed technology and preferred embodiments for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention. It is understood that the features mentioned hereinbefore and those to be commented on hereinafter may be used not only in the specified combinations, but also in other combinations or in isolation, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular example embodiments described. On the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
In the following descriptions, the present invention will be explained with reference to various exemplary embodiments. Nevertheless, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention to any specific example, environment, application, or particular implementation described herein. Therefore, descriptions of these example embodiments are only provided for purpose of illustration rather than to limit the present invention.
Any dimensional information provided herein and indicated in the figures is for certain preferred embodiments. It should be recognized, however, that the dimensions, proportions, scale and configurations of components are merely example embodiments and can be varied unless specifically limited in a given claim. Thus, the dimensions, proportions, scale and configurations can be varied without departing from the scope of the invention except where explicitly limited by a given claim.
Referring to
The enforcement bollard 100 generally comprises an internal frame assembly 102 enclosed within an outer enclosure 104. The fully assembled bollard 100 is shown in
The window 110 allows the camera or cameras 114 inside of the outer enclosure 104 to see through the enclosure 104 to the location being monitored for illegal parking while still being protected inside of the enclosure 104. The window 110 can be a hollow tubular shape as shown in the figures, or one or more discreet window panels can be provided in the tubular body 106 in alternative embodiments.
The tubular body 106 can also have other elongated tubular shapes besides circular, such as square, triangular, octagonal or polygonal or other cross-sectional shape. Rubber gaskets can be disposed between components to further enhance the weather-proof performance of the bollard 100.
The tubular body 106, base plate 108 and top cap 112 can be formed of metal. The window 110 can be formed of plastic. The internal frame assembly 102 can be formed of metal, plastic or other rigid materials, or a combination of different rigid materials.
Referring particularly to
Each battery enclosure panel 126 is generally U-shaped when viewed from vertically above. A bottom lip 128 is provided to enclose the bottom portion of the battery cavity 122. A plurality of fasteners 127 (e.g. screws and nuts) can be used to secure the opposing battery enclosure panels 126 together.
The camera support shaft 120 can be used to securely mount the camera(s) 114 and other electronics. The center of the shaft 120 is hollow so that an electrical conduit can be passed from the cap 112 downwards to the electronics located vertically lower inside of the enclosure 104. The camera support shaft 120 extends vertically and longitudinally through the window section 110. The top portion of the support shaft 120 can be threaded (or provided with a threaded insert 129) so that the top cap can be fastened to the support shaft 120.
Referring again to
As shown in
The electronics board 132 can comprise a flat mounting plate that is secured to the internal frame assembly 102 with clamps and/or fasteners to provide a support surface for mounting a PCB (printed circuit board) control board 134 and other electrical circuit components. Those circuit components include the physical processor, controller and memory components that control operation of the bollard 100. Cables can be provided to connect each of the cameras 114 to respective terminals on control board 134.
The control board 134 can also include the wireless communication componentry, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular modem, wireless interface, or other wireless communications means. A solar charge controller 136 can be included in the electronic components on the board 134 to control charging of the battery 124.
A terminal connection block 138 can also be secured to electronics board 132 and located adjacent to the control board 134. The connection block 138 provides a plurality of connection points for conduits connecting various electrical components, such as the battery 124, the solar cells 130, solar charge controller 136, and any lights, with the control electronics disposed on the board 132.
A computer readable program code (e.g., software code) can be stored in the physical memory (e.g., random access memory, flash memory or hard-drive) of the device. The computer readable program code is configured such that when executed by the controller or processor, the code causes the device to perform the steps of the invention described herein.
An impact sensor 140 can be located within the bollard and coupled to the processor. The impact sensor 140 can be provided to the electronics board 132 or integrated into the control board 134. The impact sensor 140 senses impacts above a threshold force value such as might be encountered by vandalism or a vehicle strike. If such an impact is sensed, the processor transmits a communication of the impact event to a central control computer for further investigation and possible repairs.
The battery 124 can be a single cell or multiple cells in a common enclosure, or multiple separate battery enclosures can be provided. The battery 124 can be of sufficient capacity to provide all power required for operation of the bollard's electronic components. Thus, the bollard 100 in certain embodiments can be completely wireless.
The battery 124 can be of any type that can be fit inside of the bollard and provide storage capacity desired by the user. The battery 124 can be selected and configured so that no supplemental heating or cooling is required. However, in alternative embodiments, a heating element can be provided to warm the battery in case of exposure to extremely cold environments that may pose a danger to the battery. Likewise, a ventilation fan can be provided in alternative embodiments to the bollard to provide ventilation to cool the battery to prevent overheating. A temperature sensor can be provided to allow the microprocessor to determine when to operate the heating and ventilation devices when so equipped.
A status light 142 can be provided to the bollard 100. In one example, the light 142 is attached to the camera support shaft 120 and aimed so that it can be seen from outside of the bollard 100 through the window 110. The light 142 can be used as a violation notice light. For example, if the bollard 100 were being used as a parking space monitor device, then the light 142 could be green to indicate that the space is available for parking or that the space is paid for and will not imminently expire. A yellow light may indicate that time is about to expire or that a grace period is currently counting down. A red light can indicate that a violation has occurred. If the bollard 100 is configured to monitor a no parking location, the light 142 may be omitted or not used or may be lighted red at all times. The light 142 can be flashed to further call attention to the no parking status if a vehicle attempts to enter the no parking area being monitored.
A speaker 144 can be provided to the bollard 100 so that the bollard can issue audible warning tones or spoken words to serve as notices or warnings to persons that attempt to park in a no parking location. The speaker 144 can be disposed on the electronics board 132 or other convenient location. Openings can be provided in the outer enclosure 104 if necessary to allow for emission of the audible tone or words.
Use of the parking monitoring and enforcement bollard 100 will now be described with reference to
In the example shown in
In
Once a vehicle is detected as having parked in the NO PARKING area 150, a violation is deemed to have occurred. Alternatively, a grace period can be timed upon such detection (e.g. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). No violation will be deemed to have occurred if the vehicle exits the NO PARKING area 150 before the grace period expires. The grace period allowance is useful for monitoring loading zones where extended parking is not allowed, but short term presence of the vehicle is permitted in the monitored area to perform a loading or unloading tasks. The grace period (e.g. 10 minutes) can be set to an appropriate maximum time to perform the loading and unloading, but the short limitation will keep persons from parking their car in the loading/unloading zone for any longer time periods. Thus congestion in the loading/unloading zone can be reduced.
At (or before or after) the time of violation, image (video or still image data) and any calculated information are relayed to a back office computing system (e.g. central computer, cloud computer or other remote computing system) for issuance of the parking violation, or relay to the municipality for issuance of the violation notice. This same information may also or alternatively be relayed to parking enforcement officers using handheld mobile applications such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2017/0032582 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The bollard 100 is configured via its software code to maintain the logical state of the areas being monitored to record and can report violations to the municipality through use of a hosted back office application and/or handheld mobile applications in real time. In cases where internet connectivity is temporarily unavailable, images and calculated information are stored locally in the Bollard's memory until the connection is restored.
The bollard 100 can also time the length of the violation and take additional action as appropriate, including notifying the back office computing system when certain milestones occur, such as 10 minutes, 20 minutes, etc., and/or the bollard can also send notification to a towing service to tow the illegally-parked vehicle.
As a vehicle in the monitored NO PARKING area 150 exits the monitored area 150, any timers applicable to the event are reset awaiting the next vehicle detection event.
Depending on the environment surrounding the enforcement bollard 100, lights may be illuminated to indicate no parking status or violation occurrence. Targeted lights or a flashing light can be provided to the bollard 100 and used to improve camera vision on the area where an image is captured by the camera.
Emergency and official vehicles can be exempted from violation issuance through use of license plate recognition and image review by the municipality officers or via automated algorithms.
Referring to
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and equivalent arrangements can be made thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, such scope to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products. Moreover, features or aspects of various example embodiments may be mixed and matched (even if such combination is not explicitly described herein) without departing from the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/412,852, filed Oct. 3, 2022, which is incorporated fully herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63412852 | Oct 2022 | US |
