Parking fee settlement system

Abstract

To provide a parking space where a user of a parking lot can park at the lowest parking fee within a specified range. [Solution] The parking fee settlement system includes a parking information receiving unit that receives parking information from a portable terminal when a vehicle is parked in a specified parking space, a fee information receiving unit that receives fee information of other parking spaces within a specified range of the parking space from the portable terminal, a price comparison unit that compares the fee information of the parking space with the fee information of the other parking spaces, and a fee settlement unit that settles the parking fee based on the fee information of the other parking spaces if the fee information of the other parking spaces is cheaper than the fee information of the parking space.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management system for hourly parking lots such as pay parking lots, and more particularly to a system for making payments for parking spaces using a portable terminal. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are hourly parking lots such as coin parking lots where users can use a designated parking space by paying a fee according to the parking time. In coin parking lots, the fee is often set by the hour, and it is common for the first few hours to be a fixed fee, which increases with each hour thereafter. In addition, there are also cases where a fee system is established according to time of day, such as nighttime discounts and maximum fees.

[0003] By the way, there is a type of coin parking called the gate type. A gate type coin parking is a system in which gates (barriers) are installed at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, and parking tickets are issued and fees are automatically calculated. Users obtain a parking ticket at the entrance, and when leaving the parking lot, they use that ticket to pay the fee at the payment machine. Once the fee has been paid, the exit gate opens and the car can leave.

[0004] There are also coin parking lots called locking parking lots. In these coin parking lots, the locking plate rises when the machine determines that a car is parked there, and after use, the locking plate lowers when the parking fee is paid at the payment machine, allowing the car to leave.

[0005] There are also coin parking lots that use cameras to recognize the license plates of vehicles and manage entry and exit to the parking lot.

[0006] In a parking lot management system used in such a coin parking lot, an external management terminal and an external image processing terminal including a surveillance camera cooperate via a public communication line network, as described in Patent Document 1. The parking lot management system in Patent Document 1 detects the entry and exit of vehicles from image data captured by the surveillance camera, and transmits the data to the external management terminal using virtual measurement lines and areas. The external management terminal receives the data, calculates the usage status of the parking lot, and displays it on a display device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-146976 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In the conventional parking management system such as that of Patent Document 1, parking fees are calculated and generated according to predetermined fee information. However, there are many parking lots within a given area, and fees are determined for each parking lot and parking space. Although users want to park in the cheapest possible place, the party renting out the parking space wants to make the parking fee as cheap as possible, so there was a problem that it was difficult to set the fee information.

[0009] In response to the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides parking lot users with a parking space where they can park at the lowest parking fee within a specified range.

[0010] (1) The parking fee settlement system of the present invention includes a parking information receiving unit that receives parking information of a vehicle parked in a specified parking space from a portable terminal, a fee information receiving unit that receives fee information of other parking spaces within a specified range of the parking space from the portable terminal, a price comparison unit that compares the fee information of the parking space with the fee information of the other parking spaces, and a fee settlement unit that settles the parking fee based on the fee information of the other parking spaces if the fee information of the other parking spaces is cheaper than the fee information of the parking space.

[0011] A fee comparison section compares fee information of a parking space with fee information of other parking spaces and settles the parking fee based on the cheaper fee information, so that a user of the parking lot can park at the cheapest fee within a specified range. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, a parking space is provided to a parking lot user where parking can be performed at the lowest parking fee within a specified range. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic plan view of a parking lot managed by a parking lot management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a schematic image diagram of a server device. [Diagram 2] 1 is a system configuration diagram of a parking lot management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, a parking fee settlement system S according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a parking space 10 is a conventional hourly parking space 10 that is well known.

[0015] First, the configuration of the parking fee settlement system S will be described.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 1, the parking fee settlement system S includes a parking lot and a server device 2. The identification marker 20 includes a plurality of parking spaces 10 in which vehicles such as automobiles can be parked, and an identification marker provided corresponding to each parking space 10. In this embodiment, the identification marker 20 is a well-known signboard, and in addition to the identification marker, fee information regarding the fee for each parking space 10 is printed on it.

[0017] The parking fee settlement system S operates by linking a portable terminal 3, not included in the parking fee settlement system S, with a server device 2, and provides a parking space 10 with the cheapest parking fee among hourly parking lots within a specified area. The portable terminal 3 is a conventionally well-known smartphone or tablet, and has at least a communication function, a camera function, and a payment function.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the server device 2 includes a parking information receiving unit 21 that receives parking information about vehicles parked in each parking space 10, a fee information receiving unit 22 that receives fee information for other parking spaces (not shown) in other parking lots within a specified range, a fee comparison unit 23 that compares the fee information of each parking space 10 with the fee information of the other parking spaces (not shown), and a fee settlement unit 24 that settles parking fees based on the fee information.

[0019] When the portable terminal 3 reads the identification display of the identification object 20, parking information is transmitted from the portable terminal 3 to the server device 2, and the parking information receiving unit 21 receives the parking information and determines when parking should begin in the corresponding parking space.

[0020] Fee information receiving unit 22 receives fee information of other parking spaces. Specifically, a display object displaying fee information for other parking spaces (not shown) in other parking lots (not shown) within a predetermined range from parking space 10 is photographed by the user using portable terminal 3, the fee information for the other parking spaces (not shown) is transmitted to server device 2, and fee information receiving unit 22 receives the fee information for the other parking spaces (not shown).

[0021] The fee comparison unit 23 compares the fee information of the parking space 10 in the parking lot 1 with the fee information of other parking spaces (not shown) received from the portable terminal 3, and determines the cheaper fee information as the parking fee. In this embodiment, the parking fee is calculated based on the parking time and the fee per unit time, but the calculation may also take into account maximum fees, time-of-day fees, etc.

[0022] The fee settlement unit 24 settles the parking fee based on the fee information of the parking fee determined by the fee comparison unit 23. Specifically, the portable terminal 3 again reads the identification display of the identification display object 20, and the fee settlement unit 24 settles the parking fee by a payment system such as a credit card that is well known in the art. However, the fee settlement unit 24 may settle the parking fee by another payment system.

[0023] Next, the operation of the parking fee settlement system S will be described.

[0024] Entry Step (S1): A user searches for a vacant parking space 10 in the parking lot and parks his / her vehicle there. An identification display 20 that displays an identification display corresponding to the space is provided on the side of each parking space 10. In this embodiment, this identification display is provided as a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark).

[0025] Start-of-use registration step (S2): After parking the vehicle, the user of the parking space 10 uses the camera of the portable terminal 3 to read the QR code (registered trademark) displayed on the parking display. This operation causes the portable terminal 3 of the user to start communication with the server device 2. In this embodiment, the communication between the portable terminal 3 and the server device determines the start of parking in the parking space 10, and thus starts measuring the parking time.

[0026] Other parking fee information transmission step (S3): After reading the two-dimensional code and registering the start of use, the user moves outside the parking lot while still carrying the portable terminal 3. The user moves outside the parking lot and finds another parking space (not shown) in another parking lot (not shown). If fee information for the other parking space (not shown) is displayed on the display, the user takes a picture of the display using the camera function of the portable terminal 3 and transmits the fee information for the other parking space (not shown) to the server device 2.

[0027] Price Comparison and Payment Step (S4): When the user returns to the parking lot, finishes parking, and is ready to leave, the user again reads the QR code (registered trademark) corresponding to the same parking space 10 using the camera function of the portable terminal 3. This operation causes the user's portable terminal 3 to start communication with the server device 2 again, and determines that parking has ended, thereby ending measurement of the parking time.

[0028] The server device 2 that has received the parking end information calculates the parking fee for the user. In calculating the parking fee, a first parking fee is calculated based on the fee information for the parking space 10, and a second parking fee is calculated based on the fee information for the other parking spaces. The fee comparison unit 23 then compares the first parking fee with the second parking fee, and the fee settlement unit 24 settles the cheaper fee as the parking fee for the user. In this embodiment, the second parking fee is calculated by extracting fee information by artificial intelligence (AI) from an image of fee information displayed on a display object of the other parking space photographed by the camera function of the mobile terminal 3, for example.

[0029] Entry Step (S6): After confirming that the fee has been paid, the user removes the car from parking space 10 and exits the parking lot.

[0030] In this embodiment, the parking price comparison system has been described as comparing the price information of the parking space 10 with the price information of one other parking space. However, the parking price comparison system may also compare the price information of the parking space 10 with the price information of multiple other parking spaces. Even in this case, the parking price comparison system settles the parking fee based on the cheapest price information.

[0031] The parking fee settlement system S according to this embodiment has been described above. However, the parking fee settlement system S is not limited to the above embodiment, and may have other configurations within the scope of achieving the object of the invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0032] The present invention can be used for settling parking fees. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 Parking lot 2. Server equipment 3. Portable devices 10 Parking spaces 20 Identification information display 21 Parking information receiving unit 22 Fee information receiving unit 23 Price Comparison Section 24. Billing Department

Claims

[Claim 1] a parking information receiving unit that receives parking information indicating that a vehicle has been parked in a specific parking space from a portable terminal; a fee information receiving unit that receives fee information of other parking spaces within a predetermined range from the parking space from the mobile terminal; a price comparison unit for comparing the price information of the parking space with the price information of the other parking spaces; and a fee settlement unit that settles the parking fee based on the fee information of the other parking space if the fee information of the other parking space is cheaper than the fee information of the parking space.

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