Parking lot management system capable of barcode-based checkout

Abstract

Provided is a parking lot management system capable of barcode-based vehicle departure. 【Solution means】A parking lot management system 100 capable of barcode-based vehicle departure includes a payment program 121, a parking management server 130, and an exit management device 110. The payment program 121 is installed and executed on a mobile device 120 owned by a user, and receives payment input information related to license plate information. The parking management server 130 receives the payment input information from the mobile device 120, performs payment verification based on the license plate information, generates departure data and transmits it to the mobile device 120 when the verification is successful. The payment program 121 generates a departure barcode based on the departure data. The exit management device 110 scans the departure barcode displayed on the mobile device 120 to obtain the verification time, and opens the exit gate of the parking lot when it is determined that the verification time meets the requirements for departure verification.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of access control technology, and more particularly to a parking management system (A parking management system).

Background Art

[0002] In the conventional parking management technology, after parking, the user had to line up at the information desk or the payment machine to perform payment and parking fee discount operations. The queuing time and operation time were too long, and additional parking fees might be incurred. Also, when the distance from the parking position to the information desk or the payment machine was far, it took a long time for the user to return to the vehicle and leave the warehouse after payment, and the departure time exceeded the buffer time (usually 10 - 15 minutes), and it might not be possible to leave smoothly.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] Also, in some parking management technologies, in order to determine whether the vehicle has completed payment, real-time license plate identification technology is adopted at the exit. Since a general exit gate machine performs license plate identification through an online connection, the identification time is too long, and the exit may become congested. The departure time of some drivers may exceed the above-mentioned buffer time, and it may not be possible to leave smoothly. Also, in order to facilitate the laying of the network, in a general parking lot, the entrance gate machine and the exit gate machine are installed together, and the vehicle lanes may be shared at the exit and the entrance, or the vehicle lanes may become very narrow. In such a situation, it is difficult for vehicles to pass by each other, and there is a problem that accidents are likely to occur (this problem is also one of the reasons why the departure time of some drivers exceeds the buffer time).

[0004] The main object of the present invention is to provide a parking lot management system in order to solve the above problems. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the problem that a user exceeds a predetermined buffer time for payment and cannot leave the parking lot, and to solve the problem that the exit / entrance of the parking lot shares a driveway or the driveway becomes narrow in order to facilitate the laying of the network.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the parking lot management system of the present invention adopts the following means. A parking lot management system according to an aspect of the present invention is installed and executed on a mobile device owned by a user, and the mobile device is configured to receive payment input information related to license plate information, and to generate and display an exit barcode based on the exit data related to the license plate information. A payment program, is connected to the payment program via the Internet, receives the payment input information from the mobile device, performs payment verification on the payment input information based on the license plate information, and when the payment verification is successful, generates the exit data and transmits the exit data to the mobile device. A parking management server configured to is configured to control an exit gate installed at the exit of the parking lot, and when scanning the exit barcode, obtains a verification time from the exit barcode, and when the verification time passes the exit verification, controls to open the exit gate. An exit management device configured to

Effects of the Invention

[0006] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. The present invention adopts a payment program for mobile terminals, provides discounts and settlements for parking fees, and scans the outbound barcode for outbound, thereby improving the payment efficiency in parking management, reducing the waiting time, reducing the risk of being unable to leave the warehouse due to slow or failed identification of the license plate, and making it easier to construct the entrance / exit of the parking lot.

[0007] Other objects, configurations, and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Fig. 1A

Fig. 1B

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various forms can be adopted as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing a parking lot management system 100 capable of barcode checkout according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing a parking management server according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the parking lot management system 100 includes an exit management device 110, a payment program 121, and a parking management server 130. The payment program 121 is installed and executed on the mobile device 120. The parking management server 130 is connected to the mobile device 120 via the Internet and is also connected to the payment program 121.

[0011] In this embodiment, the exit management device 110 is installed at an arbitrary location in the parking lot and is used to control the opening and closing of the exit gate installed at the exit of the parking lot. Incidentally, in the present invention, after a user parks a vehicle in the parking lot, the user can use the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120 to make a payment, and after the payment is completed, an exit barcode indicating the completion of the payment can be generated. The exit management device 110 scans the exit barcode and controls the opening of the exit gate when it determines that the information attached to the exit barcode passes the exit verification. By doing so, in some embodiments, the technical method of the present invention can be realized without the exit management device 110 being connected to the network (i.e., in an offline state). Since it is not necessary to lay a network for the exit management device 110, and in order to facilitate the laying of the network, it is not necessary to install the entrance and exit of the parking lot at the same location, thus improving common parking lot problems such as the need for the exit / entrance to share a lane or the lane becoming narrow.

[0012] In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 can similarly be connected to the network (for example, when a vehicle successfully exits, it returns vehicle data to the parking management server 130), but when scanning the exit barcode and determining whether it passes the exit verification, network connection ability is not required.

[0013] In some embodiments, the exit gate may be implemented by any type of automatic gate (e.g., a sliding gate, a barrier gate, a roller gate, etc.). In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 may be implemented by a control device (e.g., an automatic gate control device, a license plate identification device, etc., or a combination thereof) having a data processing function for controlling the exit gate. In some embodiments, the parking lot may be a surface parking lot, a multi-story parking lot, a mechanical parking lot, or the like.

[0014] In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 further includes a scanning circuit 111, a photographing circuit 112, and a sensing circuit 113. The scanning circuit 111 is used to scan any type of barcode (e.g., a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode). The photographing circuit 112 takes an image of the vehicle when the vehicle leaving the parking lot moves to the exit and approaches the exit management device 110. In some embodiments, the outbound barcode includes vehicle license plate information (e.g., captured by the entrance management device 140 at the time of entry). The exit management device 110 identifies the image captured by the photographing circuit 112, obtains the license plate information, and performs an outbound verification on the outbound barcode based on the license plate information (details will be described later). The sensing circuit 113 is used to detect whether the vehicle has approached the exit management device 110. In some embodiments, the scanning circuit 111 may be implemented by any circuit having a barcode scanning function (e.g., a laser scanner, an image scanner, etc.). In some embodiments, the photographing circuit 112 may be implemented by any image capture circuit (e.g., an optical photographing circuit, an infrared photographing circuit, a three-dimensional photographing circuit, etc.).

[0015] In some embodiments, the sensing circuit 113 may be implemented by any object sensing circuit (for example, an infrared sensing circuit, an ultrasonic sensing circuit, a radar sensing circuit, etc. installed at the exit gate, or a geomagnetic sensing circuit, a pressure sensing circuit, etc. installed on the road surface at the exit of the parking lot). In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 further decodes the scanned outgoing barcode or identifies the captured image, and performs the outgoing verification on the information or identification result obtained by the decoding. When the outgoing verification is successful, it is further used to control the opening of the exit gate. As described above, by generating, scanning, decoding, and verifying the outgoing barcode, the exit management device 110 realizes the management of the parking lot without using the network connection ability and does not need to perform real-time connection and communication with the parking management server 130. By doing so, the decoding and identification speed can be improved. In the subsequent paragraphs, in order to further explain the outgoing verification, the description is omitted here.

[0016] In some embodiments, the payment program 121 is used to receive the license plate information (e.g., the license plate number) of the user's vehicle and the payment input information related to the license plate information. Specifically, after the user activates the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120, the user inputs the license plate information into the payment program 121 through the human-machine interface (e.g., the touch screen) of the mobile device 120. Next, the user inputs the payment input information into the payment program 121 through the human-machine interface, where the payment input information corresponds to the license plate information. When the user exits the parking lot, the user first uses the payment program 121 to use the payment input information online to complete the payment of the fee for this license plate information and obtain an outbound barcode indicating that the payment of the fee has been completed. Next, when the vehicle travels to the position of the exit gate, the exit management device 110 scans the outbound barcode displayed by the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120 through the scanning circuit 111, and the exit management device 110 opens the exit gate.

[0017] The payment input information may include debit information. The debit information may be credit card debit information, electronic wallet debit information, bank transfer debit information, third-party payment debit information, etc. In some embodiments, the user saves the debit information in advance in the payment program 121, so that when the user selects the payment method supported by the parking management server 130 (i.e., the payment method provided by the operator who constructs the parking management server 130) and pays the fee, the parking management server 130 directly uses the debit information (such as credit card debit information or electronic wallet debit information) recorded in the payment program 121 to make a payment request to the bank's debit server DS1, make a transfer request to the bank, or debit the payment amount corresponding to the user's license plate information from the deposit account. When the bank's debit server DS1 succeeds in the debit, it generates authorization approval information and transmits it to the parking management server 130.

[0018] In some embodiments, when a user selects to use a third-party payment method (e.g., a payment method not managed by the operator constructing the parking management server 130, such as Green World, JKOPAY, Line Pay, etc.), when the parking management server 130 requests the mobile device 120 to pay the fee via the payment program 121, the payment program 121 is guided to a payment interface corresponding to the third-party payment platform (e.g., a web page provided by operators such as Green World, JKOPAY, Line Pay, etc.), and the user inputs the debit information by himself / herself on the payment interface. By doing so, the debit server DS1 of the third-party payment platform can debit the payment amount corresponding to the user's license plate information based on the debit information obtained from the payment interface (e.g., the third-party payment platform makes a transfer request to the bank side), and after the debit is successful, generate authorization approval information and transmit it to the parking management server 130. Regardless of which payment method the user selects, when the parking management server 130 receives the authorization approval information transmitted from the debit server DS1, it determines that the payment verification is successful and generates outbound data. In the present invention, the parking management server 130 transmits the outbound data to the mobile device 120, and the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120 generates a corresponding outbound barcode based on the outbound data (details will be described later).

[0019] In some embodiments, the payment program 121 can control the mobile device 120 to receive discount information (e.g., the user manually enters a discount code), or control the mobile device 120 to scan an external certificate (e.g., a consumption receipt provided by the consumption location, or another parking fee discount certificate) to obtain the discount information. In embodiments where discount information exists, when the user opens a page related to fee payment by the payment program 121 and makes a fee payment, the debit information and the discount information are transmitted to the parking management server 130, and the parking management server 130 performs payment verification based on the debit information and the discount information. If the discount information can fully discount the payment amount corresponding to this license plate information, the parking management server 130 determines that the payment verification is successful and generates the said shipment data. If the discount information cannot fully discount the payment amount corresponding to this license plate information, or the discount information is invalid, the parking management server 130 generates payment balance information (that is, the remaining amount obtained by subtracting the amount specified in the discount information from the payment amount, indicating to the user how much payment remains after the discount) based on the payment amount and the discount information, and according to whether the user has selected the corresponding payment method for the parking management server 130 or the third-party payment method, a payment request is made to the debit server DS1 based on the user's debit information through the above process.

[0020] For example, when a user selects a payment method corresponding to the parking management server 130 and makes a payment, the parking management server 130 transmits a payment request to the debit server DS1 of the bank based on the debit information obtained from the payment program 121 and the payment balance information. After the debit is successful, the debit server DS1 transmits authorization approval information to the parking management server 130. Another example is that when a user selects a third-party payment method and makes a payment, the parking management server 130 guides the payment program 121 to a payment interface corresponding to the third-party payment platform, and the user inputs debit information into the payment interface. In this way, the debit server DS1 of the third-party payment platform makes a debit based on the debit information obtained from the payment interface and the payment balance information, and after the debit is successful, transmits authorization approval information to the parking management server 130.

[0021] In some embodiments, the outbound data generated by the parking management server 130 includes a payment time, a valid time, or a combination thereof (that is, the outbound barcode generated by the payment program 121 includes content related to the payment time and the valid time). The payment time is the time when the user settles the parking fee, and the valid time is the time period during which the user is permitted to leave the parking lot (for example, a time period of 10 to 15 minutes after the payment time).

[0022] Incidentally, in some underground parking lots, considering the possibility of poor network connection, the technical method of the present invention further permits the user to complete the payment using the payment program 121 in a place with good network connection within a certain period of time before leaving the warehouse (for example, 1 to 2 hours before). In this embodiment, the payment program 121 allows the user to input the desired departure time by himself / herself and complete the payment in advance. In this embodiment, the payment amount corresponding to the user's license plate information is calculated based on the vehicle's entry time and the desired departure time input by the user. At this time, the payment time refers to the desired departure time input by the user. However, the above are only some specific embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0023] In some embodiments, the payment program 121 is a software application program developed by the parking lot administrator or a third party (for example, the supplier of the parking management method), and can be downloaded from an app store or a website to the mobile device 120. In some embodiments, the payment program 121 is provided by the operator who constructs the parking management server 130 and provides a payment method corresponding to the parking management server 130.

[0024] In some embodiments, the mobile device 120 that executes the payment program 121 may be realized by any smart mobile device (for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc.) owned by the user (that is, the driver parking in the parking lot). In some embodiments, the mobile device 120 further includes a photographing circuit 122 for scanning any type of barcode. In some embodiments, the photographing circuit 12 may be realized by any image capture circuit.

[0025] In this embodiment, the parking management server 130 receives license plate information of a user's vehicle entering the parking lot from the entrance management device 140, the parking lot host 10, or the mobile device 120. Further, the parking management server 130 receives payment input information and discount information from the mobile device 120. In this way, the parking management server 130 can perform payment verification for the payment input information via the debit server DS1 of the bank based on the license plate information, and when the payment verification is successful, generate the outbound data and transmit the outbound data to the mobile device 120. The payment program 121 generates the outbound barcode based on the outbound data. In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 is operated by the management company of the parking lot and can be implemented on any type of server (e.g., cloud server, virtual server, rack server, etc.). In some embodiments, the outbound barcode generated by the payment program 121 may be any type of barcode. In the subsequent paragraphs, for further explanation of the payment verification, the explanation is omitted here.

[0026] In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 includes a database 131, a counter module 132, a discount module 133, a payment module 134, a barcode generation module 135, and a transmission module 136. Specifically, the parking management server 130 may implement all of the above modules 131-136 by a single host, or may be implemented by a cluster, a distributed system, a cloud platform (such as AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.), or a combination thereof, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the database 131 may be implemented by any type of storage of hardware or software (such as RAID, virtual memory, etc.). In some embodiments, the counter module 132, the discount module 133, the payment module 134, and the barcode generation module 135 may be implemented by any type of processing unit of hardware or software (such as a central processing unit, a virtual processing device, etc.). In some embodiments, the transmission module 136 may be implemented by any type of transmission interface of hardware or software (such as an Ethernet interface, a virtual transceiver interface, etc.). In some embodiments, the database 131 is used for storing various information. The counter module 132 is used for calculating the time difference. The discount module 133 is used for processing discount information. The payment module 134 submits a payment claim to the debit server DS1 through the transmission module 136. The barcode generation module 135 is used for encoding various information as outgoing data. The transmission module 136 is used for communicating with the connected devices or servers.

[0027] In some embodiments, the system 100 is further provided with an entrance management device 140 that is connected to a parking lot host 10 installed at the location and is connected to a parking management server 130 via the parking lot host 10. The entrance management device 140 is used to control the opening and closing of an entrance gate installed at the parking lot entrance. In some embodiments, the entrance gate may be implemented as any type of automatic gate. In some embodiments, the entrance management device 140 further includes a photographing circuit 141 and a sensing circuit 142. The photographing circuit 141 is used to take an image of the vehicle when the user attempts to enter the parking lot and the vehicle approaches the entrance management device 140. The sensing circuit 142 is used to detect whether the vehicle approaches the entrance management device 140. In some embodiments, the photographing circuit 141 may be implemented as any image capture circuit. In some embodiments, the sensing circuit 142 may be implemented as any object sensing circuit.

[0028] In some embodiments, the entrance management device 140 transmits the captured image and the shooting time when the image was captured (for example, using a counter (not shown) that the entrance management device 140 has to obtain the shooting time) to the parking lot host 10 for storage, and then transmits it to the parking management server 130 by the parking lot host 10. In this embodiment, the parking management server 130 identifies the license plate for this image and obtains the license plate number. Next, the parking management server 130 sets the shooting time as the storage time corresponding to this license plate number, and records the license plate number and the corresponding storage time. In some embodiments, when the parking management server 130 identifies the license plate number (by the parking lot host 10), it transmits an opening request to the entrance management device 140, and when the entrance management device 140 receives the opening request, it controls to open the entrance gate. In some embodiments, the entrance management device 140 may be equipped with an image recognition function, identify the license plate for the captured image, obtain the license plate number, and then control to open the gate. After controlling to open the gate, it transmits the license plate number and the shooting time to the parking lot host 10 / parking management server 130, calculates and stores the storage time. In this embodiment, it is not necessary for the parking management server 130 to execute the image recognition process.

[0029] In some embodiments, in addition to transmitting the number or image of the license plate and the shooting time, the entrance management device 140 further transmits, together with the parking lot identification code (parking lot ID) corresponding to the entrance management device 140 by the parking lot host 10, to the parking management server 130. The parking management server 130 stores the number of the license plate received or identified from the image and the shooting time in a sub-database (not shown) corresponding to the parking lot identification code in the database 131. The parking lot identification code indicates the parking lot where the entrance management device 140 is installed. By doing so, the parking management server 130 can determine whether the number of the license plate indicated by the license plate information described in the following paragraphs is recorded in one sub-database of the database 131, and when it is determined that the number of the license plate indicated by the license plate information is recorded in one sub-database of the database 131, obtain the parking lot identification code corresponding to this sub-database.

[0030] In some embodiments, the entrance management device 140 may be implemented by a control device having a data processing function for controlling the entrance gate. In some embodiments, the identification of the license plate may be realized by any computer vision algorithm (for example, convolutional neural network (CNN), YOLO (you only look once) model, transformer model, etc.).

[0031] In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 is further connected to an external debit server DS1, and the debit server DS1 is used for the authorization verification described in the following paragraphs. In some embodiments, the debit server DS1 is operated by a bank branch and communicates with the parking management server 130 to obtain the debit information and payment balance information. In some embodiments, the debit server DS1 is operated by a third-party payment service provider and communicates through the payment interface and payment program 121 to obtain the debit information and obtain the payment balance information from the parking management server 130.

[0032] The debit server DS1 may be implemented by any type of server (e.g., a cloud server, a virtual server, a rack server, etc.). The authorization verification will be further described in the following paragraphs, and the description will be omitted here.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a parking lot management method according to some embodiments of the present invention. This parking management method is applied to the parking lot management system 100 shown in FIG. 1A. The parking management method includes steps S210 to S230 (see FIG. 2).

[0034] First, in step S210, the payment program 121 receives license plate information and payment input information. In some embodiments, when the payment program 121 receives the license plate information, it transmits the license plate information to the parking management server 130, receives a parking lot identification code corresponding to the license plate information from the parking management server 130, and displays a fee payment interface (e.g., a graphical interface) corresponding to the parking lot identification code. In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 determines which sub-database in the database 131 has the same license plate number as the license plate number indicated by the license plate information, and can transmit the parking lot identification code corresponding to this sub-database to the payment program 121 by the transmission module 136 as the parking lot identification code corresponding to the license plate information.

[0035] In other embodiments, when the payment program 121 receives the license plate information, it directly receives a parking lot identification code input by the user (e.g., the user selects the parking lot where the vehicle is parked from a plurality of parking lot candidates through a human-machine interface), and displays a fee payment interface corresponding to the parking lot identification code. In other embodiments, when the payment program 121 receives the license plate information, the imaging circuit 122 of the mobile device 120 scans a barcode corresponding to the parking lot where the user parks the vehicle to decrypt the parking lot identification code, and displays a fee payment interface corresponding to the parking lot identification code. In some embodiments, the payment program 121 can upload the obtained parking lot identification code to the parking management server 130.

[0036] In some embodiments, the payment program 121 scans a specific certificate by the imaging circuit 122 of the mobile device 120 and obtains the discount information recorded in the certificate. If the amount indicated in the discount information can fully discount the payment amount corresponding to this license plate information, the user does not need to pay the fee further. The payment program 121 displays the discount information on the fee payment interface, notifies the user that the fee has already been settled, and indicates the verification time when the fee payment is completed.

[0037] In other embodiments, when the amount indicated in the discount information cannot fully discount the payment amount corresponding to this license plate information, the payment program 121 or the parking management server 130 generates payment balance information (that is, the balance after subtracting the amount indicated in the discount information from the payment amount) based on the payment amount and the discount information. At the same time, the payment program 121 displays the payment balance information on the fee payment interface to show the user how much the remaining settlement amount is. Next, the payment program 121 can pay the balance according to the debit information of the payment input information.

[0038] In another embodiment, the payment program 121 transmits a charge claim including license plate information to the parking management server 130 and requests the parking management server 130 to provide a payment amount corresponding to the license plate information. Next, the parking management server 130 obtains the storage time corresponding to the previously recorded license plate information based on the license plate information, and calculates the time difference between the storage time and the current system time of the parking management server 130 by the counter module 132. Then, the parking management server 130 calculates the payment amount corresponding to the time difference and returns the payment amount to the payment program 121. The payment program 121 displays the payment amount on the fee payment interface and shows the user how much the remaining settlement amount is. Next, the payment program 121 receives the discount information and / or direct debit information, and transmits the discount information and / or direct debit information to the payment interface corresponding to the parking management server or the third-party payment platform to perform direct debit.

[0039] In step S220, the parking management server 130 receives payment input information from the mobile device 120, verifies the payment for the payment input information based on the license plate information, and when the payment verification is successful, generates shipping data and transmits the shipping data to the mobile device 120. Next, the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120 generates a shipping barcode based on the shipping data. In some embodiments, the mobile device 120 further transmits discount information to the parking management server 130 together. When the parking management server 130 receives the discount information by the discount module 133, the parking management server 130 verifies the payment based on the payment input information and the discount information, and when the payment verification is successful (for example, when receiving authorization approval information from the debit server DS1, it is determined that the payment verification is successful), the parking management server 130 sets the system time of the parking management server 130 as the verification time, and by the barcode generation module 135, encodes the verification time as shipping data corresponding to the license plate information, and by the transmission module 136, transmits the shipping data corresponding to the license plate information to the mobile device 120. By doing so, the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120 generates a shipping barcode including the verification time based on the shipping data.

[0040] In another embodiment, when the parking management server 130 determines, through the discount module 133, that it is impossible to fully discount the parking fee corresponding to the license plate information by the amount indicated in the discount information, the parking management server 130 calculates the remaining payment information through the payment module 134. When the user selects to use the payment method corresponding to the parking management server 130, the parking management server 130, based on the debit information and the remaining payment information of the payment input information, transmits, through the transmission module 136, a payment request including the debit information and the remaining payment information to the debit server DS1 of the bank. Next, the debit server DS1 verifies the authorization based on the payment request (for example, ID verification, available balance check, risk assessment, fraud prevention check, etc.), and when the authorization verification is successful, transmits authorization approval information to the parking management server 130 and completes the transfer request. When the parking management server 130 receives the authorization approval information through the transmission module 136, it determines that the payment verification is successful, sets the system time (i.e., the payment time) as the verification time, or sets the valid time calculated based on the system time as the verification time.

[0041] When the user selects to use the third-party payment method, the parking management server 130 guides the payment program 121 to the payment interface corresponding to the third-party payment platform, and the user inputs the debit information into the payment interface. In this embodiment, the parking management server 130 transmits the remaining payment amount information to the debit server DS1 of the third-party payment platform through the transmission module 136. Then, the debit server DS1 of the third-party payment platform verifies the authorization based on the debit information and the remaining payment amount information (for example, ID verification, available balance check, risk assessment, fraud prevention check, etc.). When the authorization verification is successful, the debit server DS1 transmits the authorization approval information to the parking management server 130 to complete the transfer request. When the parking management server 130 receives the authorization approval information through the transmission module 136, it determines that the payment verification is successful, sets the system time (i.e., the payment time) as the verification time, or sets the valid time calculated based on the system time as the verification time.

[0042] Next, when it is determined that the payment verification is successful, the parking management server 130 encodes the verification time as the outbound data corresponding to the license plate information by the barcode generation module 135, and transmits the outbound data corresponding to the license plate information to the mobile device 120 through the transmission module 136, and the payment program 121 generates the corresponding outbound barcode.

[0043] In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 obtains the inbound time corresponding to the previously recorded license plate information based on the license plate information, and calculates the time difference between the inbound time and the current system time of the parking management server 130 by the counter module 132. Next, the parking management server 130 calculates the payment amount corresponding to the time difference. In the present invention, this payment amount is discounted by the discount information, paid by the debit information, or the remaining amount is paid by the debit information after being discounted by the discount information first.

[0044] In some embodiments, the parking management server 130 further utilizes the barcode generation module 135 to encode license plate information, the obtained parking lot identification code described above, an anti-theft verification code (e.g., a payment serial number, a code in a specific format, or a hash value), or a combination thereof together into the outgoing data corresponding to the license plate information for use in the outgoing verification described in the following paragraphs. In this embodiment, the outgoing barcode generated by the payment program 121 based on the outgoing data further includes contents such as license plate information, a parking lot identification code, and an anti-theft verification code, which are jointly verified by the exit management device 110.

[0045] In step S230, when the exit management device 110 scans the outgoing barcode displayed on the mobile device 120, it obtains the verification time from the outgoing barcode, performs an outgoing verification on the verification time, and controls to open the exit gate when the outgoing verification is passed. Hereinafter, an actual example will be given to explain the barcode scanning.

[0046] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the scanning of the outgoing barcode BC1 displayed on the mobile device 120 according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle driven by the user stops in front of the exit gate of the parking lot, the user obtains the outgoing data indicating the completion of the payment after completing the payment of the fee, and the payment program 121 generates an outgoing barcode BC1 corresponding to the license plate information of this vehicle and displays it on the mobile device 120. Next, the user holds the mobile device 120 by hand and approaches the scanning circuit 111 of the exit management device 110. When the scanning circuit 111 scans the outgoing barcode BC1, it decrypts the outgoing barcode BC1 and obtains the verification time. In some embodiments, the scanning circuit 111 decrypts the outgoing barcode BC1 and further obtains license plate information, a parking lot identification code, an anti-theft verification code, or a combination thereof.

[0047] In the present invention, after the user completes the payment online using the payment program 121 of the mobile device 120, a departure barcode BC1 that indicates the completion of the fee payment and has timeliness is directly generated. At the parking lot exit, it is determined whether to open the gate to let the user exit by scanning and decrypting the departure barcode BC1. The barcode identification process (first, positioning the image, and then directly decrypting) is simple. Compared with the complex license plate identification process (first, identifying the license plate, then capturing the image, and finally performing optical character recognition (OCR) processing on the image), the identification speed is extremely fast. Also, taking the two-dimensional barcode as an example, since the barcode itself has a verification mechanism and correction ability, even if some barcodes are damaged, the accurate content can be decrypted. Therefore, compared with the license plate identification process, the error rate of the barcode identification process is extremely low, and the error tolerance is also extremely high. By adopting the system and method according to the present invention, the risk that the user of the parking lot fails to identify the license plate and cannot leave the lot can be significantly reduced.

[0048] In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 pre-saves one buffer time (for example, 10 to 15 minutes). In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 obtains the current time from its own counter (not shown), and determines whether the departure verification is passed based on the current time, the verification time, and the pre-saved buffer time.

[0049] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a plurality of steps S231 to S236 included in step S230 of the parking lot management method according to some embodiments of the present invention. Step S230 includes steps S231 to S236 (see FIG. 4).

[0050] In step S231, the exit management device 110 calculates the valid time corresponding to the payment time during the verification time decoded from the outgoing barcode BC1 and the previously stored buffer time (for example, if the payment time is 10:00 and the buffer time is 15 minutes, the exit management device 110 calculates the valid time to be from 10:00 to 10:15). In other embodiments, the exit management device 110 can directly decode the valid time during the verification time from the outgoing barcode BC1.

[0051] In step S232, the exit management device 110 determines whether the current time is within the valid time. If the current time is within the valid time, the exit management device 110 executes step S233. Conversely, if the current time is not within the valid time, the exit management device 110 executes step S235.

[0052] In step S233, the exit management device 110 determines that the valid time has not passed. In step S234, the exit management device 110 determines that the outgoing verification has passed and controls to open the exit gate.

[0053] In some embodiments, if it is determined that the valid time has not passed, the exit management device 110 further performs license plate verification, identification code verification, anti-theft verification, or a combination thereof based on the license plate information, parking lot identification code, or anti-theft verification code. If the license plate verification, identification code verification, anti-theft verification, or a combination thereof passes, it is determined that the outgoing verification has passed, and control is performed to open the exit gate. Conversely, if the exit management device 110 fails one of the license plate verification, identification code verification, and anti-theft verification, it is determined that the outgoing verification has failed, and control is performed to keep the exit gate closed.

[0054] In some embodiments, when the sensing circuit 113 detects that the vehicle has approached the exit management device 110, the photographing circuit 112 photographs a vehicle located at the exit of the parking lot and waiting to exit the parking lot. Next, the exit management device 110 identifies the license plate for the photographed image and obtains the license plate number. Next, the exit management device 110 verifies the license plate (i.e., determines whether the identified license plate number is the same as the license plate number indicated by the license plate information obtained from the outgoing barcode BC1).

[0055] In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 stores a parking lot identification code indicating the parking lot where the exit management device 110 is installed. In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 verifies the identification code against the parking lot identification code obtained from the outgoing barcode BC1 and the stored parking lot identification code (i.e., determines whether the parking lot identification code obtained from the outgoing barcode BC1 is the same as the parking lot identification code indicating the parking lot where the exit management device 110 is installed). In some embodiments, the exit management device 110 performs anti-theft verification on the anti-theft verification code obtained from the outgoing barcode BC1. It should be noted here that since anti-theft verification is a commonly used means in the field of data verification, the description is omitted here.

[0056] In step S235, the exit management device 110 determines that the effective time has passed. In step S236, the exit management device 110 determines that the outgoing verification has failed and controls to continue closing the exit gate.

[0057] In this invention, the user can use the mobile device as a payment machine and directly execute online operations such as parking fee inquiry, discount procedures, balance payment, and electronic invoice generation through a payment program, thereby improving the payment efficiency of general parking lots and shortening the time the user waits for departure. Also, in this invention, after the user completes the payment, an exit barcode is generated, and the exit management device scans and decrypts the exit barcode, and directly determines whether the user can exit based on the content information of the exit barcode. Since the error rate of barcode decryption is low and the error tolerance is high, it prevents the risk that the user cannot exit due to license plate identification errors. Also, since neither the scanning nor the decryption of the exit barcode requires a network connection function, the parking lot operator does not need to install the exit and entrance together for laying the network, the structure of the parking lot entrance and exit can be further simplified, the need for the entrance and exit to share the driveway can be eliminated, and the common parking lot problem of the driveway becoming narrow can also be solved.

[0058] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0059] 100 Parking Lot Management System 10 Parking Lot Host 110 Exit Management Device 111 Scanning Circuit 112 Photographing Circuit 113 Sensing Circuit 120 Mobile Device 121 Payment Program 122 Photographing Circuit 130 Parking Management Server 131 Database 132 Counter Module 133 Discount Module 134 Payment Module 135 Barcode Generation Module 136 Transmission Module 140 Entrance Management Device 141 Imaging Circuit 142 Sensing Circuit DS1 Debit Server BC1 Shipping Barcode Steps S210~S230 Steps S231~S236

Claims

1. A payment program installed and executed on a mobile device owned by a user, the mobile device being configured to receive payment input information related to license plate information and to generate and display a shipping barcode based on the shipping data related to the license plate information; A parking management server connected to the payment program via the Internet, receiving the payment input information from the mobile device, performing payment verification on the payment input information based on the license plate information, generating the shipping data when the payment verification is successful, and transmitting the shipping data to the mobile device; An exit management device configured to control an exit gate installed at an exit of a parking lot, and when scanning the shipping barcode, to obtain a verification time from the shipping barcode and to control the opening of the exit gate when the verification time passes the shipping verification. A parking lot management system capable of barcode shipping, characterized in that it comprises the above.

2. The payment program is configured to control the mobile device to receive discount information or to obtain the discount information by scanning a certificate, and the parking management server is configured to receive the payment input information and the discount information from the mobile device and to perform payment verification based on the payment input information and the discount information. The parking lot management system capable of barcode shipping according to claim 1, characterized in that it is configured as above.

3. The payment input information includes debit information. When the parking management server determines that it is impossible for the discount information to fully discount the payment amount corresponding to the license plate information, or determines that the discount information is invalid, it generates remaining payment balance information and transmits a payment request to the debit server based on the debit information and the remaining payment balance information. When receiving authorization approval information from the debit server, the system time of the parking management server is set as the verification time, and the verification time is encoded as the outbound data corresponding to the license plate information. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 2, characterized in that it is configured as such.

4. The payment input information includes debit information. When the parking management server determines that it is impossible for the discount information to fully discount the parking fee corresponding to the license plate information, or determines that the discount information is invalid, it generates remaining payment balance information, guides the payment program towards the payment interface corresponding to the third-party payment platform, and when the user provides the debit information on the payment interface, the debit server of the third-party payment platform makes a debit based on the debit information and the remaining payment balance information. When the parking management server receives authorization approval information from the debit server, the system time of the parking management server is set as the verification time, and the verification time is encoded as the outbound data corresponding to the license plate information. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 2, characterized in that it is configured as such.

5. The debit information is credit card debit information, electronic wallet debit information, bank transfer debit information, or third-party payment debit information. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 4, characterized in that it is such.

6. The parking management server obtains the entry time corresponding to the license plate information, calculates the time difference between the entry time and the system time, calculates the payment amount corresponding to the license plate information based on the time difference, transmits a payment request to the debit server based on the payment amount, and when receiving the authorization approval information generated from the debit server, further configures the system time as the verification time and encodes the verification time as the outbound data corresponding to the license plate information. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 2, characterized in that it is configured as such.

7. A parking lot host connected to the parking management server, An entrance management device connected to the parking lot host and having a photographing circuit, wherein the entrance management device photographs the license plate corresponding to the license plate information by the photographing circuit and directly transmits the photographing time of photographing the license plate or transmits it to the parking management server through the parking lot host. An entrance management device configured as such, further comprising: The parking management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 6, characterized in that the parking management server sets the photographing time as the entry time corresponding to the license plate information.

8. The verification time includes a payment time or a valid time. The payment time is the time when the user settles the parking fee or the outbound time selected by the user on the payment program. The valid time is a time period during which the user is permitted to leave the parking lot. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 1, characterized in that it is configured as such.

9. The exit management device calculates the payment time obtained from the outbound barcode and the valid time corresponding to a pre-stored buffer time, or directly obtains the valid time from the outbound barcode, and when it is determined that the current time is within the valid time, it is configured to determine that the outbound verification is qualified. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 8, characterized in that it is configured as such.

10. The parking management server is further configured to encode the license plate information, the parking lot identification code of the parking lot, or the anti-theft verification code together in the outbound data. The exit management device has a photographing circuit for sensing the license plate information of the vehicle, and the exit management device calculates the payment time obtained from the outbound barcode and the valid time corresponding to the pre-stored buffer time, or directly obtains the valid time from the outbound barcode. When it is determined that the current time is within the valid time, the license plate information, the parking lot identification code, or the anti-theft verification code is obtained from the outbound barcode, and license plate verification, identification code verification, or anti-theft verification is performed based on the license plate information, the parking lot identification code, or the anti-theft verification code. When the license plate verification, the identification code verification, or the anti-theft verification is passed, it is further configured to determine that the outbound verification is passed. The parking lot management system capable of barcode outbound according to claim 8, characterized in that.

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