Payment System

Abstract

To prevent erroneous adjustment from being performed in adjustment at a parking lot.SOLUTION: When a vehicle enters a vehicle space 4, an adjustment machine 40 stores a date of entry of the vehicle into the vehicle space 4, a vehicle number of the entered vehicle, and a picked up image of the vehicle in association with a vehicle space number. A user of the vehicle space 4 performs an operation of starting adjustment on the adjustment machine 40 when adjusting a parking fee. When the operation of starting adjustment is performed, the adjustment machine 40 displays an image of all of stored image files. The user selects the image of his / her own vehicle from among the displayed images of vehicles. The adjustment machine 40 obtains an elapsed time since the entry date stored in association with the selected image, and calculates and displays a parking fee based on the obtained elapsed time. The user inputs a bill or coin to the adjustment machine 40 in accordance with the displayed parking fee to pay the parking fee.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a settlement system. [Background technology]

[0002] An example of an invention for settling parking fees at a parking lot is the parking location confirmation system disclosed in Patent Document 1. When a parking location number is input into a central payment machine, this parking location confirmation system photographs a vehicle in the parking space corresponding to the input parking location number and displays the image of the vehicle. This parking location confirmation system allows a user to confirm that the vehicle in the parking space with the input parking location number is the user's vehicle, preventing payment due to inputting the wrong parking location number. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4666969 specification Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, parking lot users need to remember the parking spot number in order to input it into the central payment machine. However, users may be away from the parking lot for an extended period of time, and if they forget the parking spot number during that time, they will be unable to make the payment correctly if they input the wrong parking spot number, and will have to go to the trouble of returning to the parking space to check the parking spot number.

[0005] To prevent incorrect payment from being made when paying for a parking lot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention relates to a method for detecting a parking lot by associating an image of a vehicle that has entered a parking lot with vehicle compartment information that indicates the vehicle compartment in which the vehicle is parked. Stored in the management table The user starts the payment of parking fees. When this is done, the data stored in the management table The parking lot Either of the following vehicles As a first aspect, a payment system is provided which displays images of all vehicles parked in a parking space and settles the parking fee for a vehicle parked in a parking space indicated by parking space information stored in correspondence with an image selected by a user from among the displayed images.

[0007] In addition, in the first aspect of the present invention, a second aspect may be adopted in which an image of a vehicle captured by a photographing device provided corresponding to each of a plurality of vehicle compartments in the parking lot is used.

[0008] In addition, in the first aspect, the present invention may adopt as a third aspect a configuration in which an image of a vehicle captured by an imaging device that captures areas that do not correspond to each of the multiple vehicle compartments in the parking lot is used. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a settlement system 1 according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device 30. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a settlement machine 40. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a management table. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle number recognition device 50. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the embodiment. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the settlement machine 40. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the settlement machine 40. [Figure 9] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the settlement machine 40. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] [First embodiment] (Configuration of the embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a settlement system 1 according to the present invention. Parking lot 3 is a parking lot that provides parking spaces 4 for vehicles on an hourly basis, and has spaces 41 to 45. In this embodiment, parking lot 3 is a so-called flapless parking lot, but it may also be a flap-type parking lot. Payment system 1 is a system that rents out spaces 41 to 45 by the hour and performs settlement processing according to the usage time. For ease of explanation, spaces 41 to 45 will be referred to as spaces 4 when there is no need to distinguish between them.

[0011] In the parking lot 3, a payment machine 40 and a vehicle number recognition device 50 are installed, and terminal devices 301 to 305 that detect the entry of a vehicle into the vehicle space 4 are installed in vehicle spaces 41 to 45. For ease of explanation, when there is no need to distinguish between the terminal devices 301 to 305, they will be referred to as terminal device 30.

[0012] The terminal device 30 is, for example, a columnar device of a predetermined height, and includes a display device, a speaker that emits a warning sound, and a camera that captures images of the vehicle interior 4. The terminal device 30 may be installed at a position where it can capture an image of the vehicle number of a vehicle entering the vehicle interior 4, and is installed at the front or rear of the vehicle interior 4.

[0013] The vehicle number recognition device 50 is a device that recognizes the vehicle number of a vehicle that has entered the parking space 4, and is connected to multiple terminal devices 30 that are installed in the same parking lot. The vehicle number recognition device 50 acquires images captured by the cameras of the terminal devices 30, and recognizes the vehicle numbers of the vehicles in the acquired images by a known method.

[0014] The payment machine 40 is a device that settles the fee for using the parking space 4. The payment machine 40 is connected to a plurality of terminal devices 30 and a vehicle number recognition device 50 that are installed in the same parking lot.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal device 30. The communication unit 305 is a communication interface that communicates with the fare adjustment machine 40 and the vehicle number recognition device 50. The camera 306 has an imaging element and captures the vehicle compartment 4. The camera 306 is an example of a photographing device according to the present invention. The display 303 is a liquid crystal display and displays various information. The speaker 307 outputs voice and warning sounds corresponding to signals output from the control unit 301. The storage unit 302 is a non-volatile memory and stores a vehicle compartment number that identifies the vehicle compartment 4 in which the terminal device 30 is installed and a program executed by the control unit 301. The vehicle compartment number is an example of vehicle compartment information according to the present invention. The control unit 301 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), executes a program stored in the storage unit 302 to control each unit, and communicates with the fare adjustment machine 40 and the vehicle number recognition device 50 via the communication unit 305.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the settlement machine 40. The communication unit 405 is a communication interface that communicates with the terminal device 30 and the vehicle number recognition device 50. The touch panel 403 is a device that combines a display device such as a liquid crystal display with a sensor that detects finger contact with the display surface of the display device. The speaker 407 outputs sound corresponding to a signal output from the control unit 401. The settlement unit 406 deposits and withdraws bills and coins related to the settlement of the usage fee for the vehicle compartment 4. The memory unit 402 is a non-volatile memory, and stores a program executed by the control unit 401. The memory unit 402 also stores a management table that manages information related to the vehicle compartment 4.

[0017] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the management table. Each record in the management table corresponds to one vehicle compartment 4. Each record stores, as information related to the vehicle compartment 4, the vehicle compartment number assigned to the vehicle compartment 4, the date and time the vehicle entered the vehicle compartment 4, the vehicle number of the vehicle entered into the vehicle compartment 4, and an image file of the vehicle entered into the vehicle compartment 4. The vehicle number and the image file of the vehicle stored in each record are examples of characteristic information according to the present invention.

[0018] The control unit 401 has a CPU and executes a program stored in the storage unit 402. The control unit 401 executing the program communicates with the terminal device 30 and the vehicle number recognition device 50 via the communication unit 405. The control unit 401 also identifies a user operation according to the position of a finger detected by the touch panel 403 and the screen displayed on the touch panel 403, and executes various processes such as control of each unit and settlement processing according to the identified operation.

[0019] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle number recognition device 50. The communication unit 505 is a communication interface that communicates with the terminal device 30 and the settlement machine 40. The storage unit 502 has a non-volatile memory and stores a program executed by the control unit 501. The control unit 501 has a CPU and executes the program stored in the storage unit 502. While executing the program, the control unit 501 detects the entry and exit of a vehicle into the vehicle compartment 4, and recognizes the vehicle number of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 4 by analyzing the video sent from the terminal device 30. The control unit 501 also communicates with the terminal device 30 and the settlement machine 40 via the communication unit 505.

[0020] (Example of operation of embodiment) Next, an operation example of the embodiment will be described below. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation when a vehicle enters the vehicle compartment 4.

[0021] The terminal device 301 photographs the vehicle compartment 41 with the camera 306 and transmits the image of the vehicle compartment 41 photographed by the camera 306 to the vehicle number recognition device 50. When the vehicle of a user of the parking lot 3 enters the vehicle compartment 4A1, the terminal device 301 analyzes the image of the vehicle compartment 41 photographed by the camera 306 and determines the entry of the vehicle into the vehicle compartment 41 using a known technology (step SA1). When the terminal device 301 determines that the vehicle has entered the vehicle compartment A1, it photographs the entered vehicle and generates an image file of the photographed vehicle. The image shown in the image file of the vehicle is an image in which one or more of the color and shape of the vehicle can be recognized. The image shown in the image file may be an image showing the license plate of the vehicle.

[0022] Next, the terminal device 301 transmits the captured image of the vehicle to the vehicle number recognition device 50 (step SA2). The vehicle number recognition device 50 analyzes the image transmitted from the terminal device 301 and recognizes the vehicle number on the license plate of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 41 (step SA3). The vehicle number recognition device 50 transmits the vehicle number recognized from the image to the terminal device 301 (step SA4).

[0023] When the terminal device 301 receives the vehicle number transmitted from the vehicle number recognition device 50, it transmits to the settlement machine 40 a warehousing message including the generated image file, the vehicle number received from the vehicle number recognition device 50, and the vehicle compartment number of the vehicle compartment 41 into which the vehicle has entered (step SA5).

[0024] The adjustment machine 40 receives the entry message transmitted from the terminal device 301. The adjustment machine 40 updates the information of the record in which the vehicle compartment number included in the received entry message is stored in the management table stored in the memory unit 402. Specifically, the adjustment machine 40 stores the date and time when the entry message was received in the record in which the received vehicle compartment number is stored in the entry date and time cell, and stores the image file included in the entry message in the image file cell (step SA6).

[0025] The settlement machine 40 also stores the vehicle number included in the received entry message in the vehicle number cell in the record in which the vehicle number included in the entry message is stored (step SA7). As a result, the place name, classification number, hiragana characters, alphabetic characters, and serial designation number on the license plate of the entered vehicle are stored in the record in which the vehicle number of the vehicle room 41 is stored.

[0026] Next, an example of the operation when a user of parking space 41 settles the parking fee will be described with reference to FIG.

[0027] When a user of space 41 wishes to settle the usage fee, the user performs a settlement start operation on touch panel 403 of settlement machine 40. When the settlement start operation is performed, settlement machine 40 displays a screen for inputting the serial designation number of the user's vehicle (step SB1). The user inputs the serial designation number of the license plate of his / her vehicle that has entered space 41 into the input screen. The settlement machine 40 searches the management table for a record that stores the input serial designation number (step SB2).

[0028] If the search returns only one record (YES in step SB3), the settlement machine 40 obtains the entry date and time stored in the hit record (step SB4). The settlement machine 40 finds the amount of time that has elapsed since the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee based on the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403 (step SB5). The settlement machine 40 may also display the parking space number stored in the hit record when displaying the parking fee. The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins (step SB6). The settlement machine 40 calculates the amount of change based on the amount inserted and the parking fee, and dispenses the change if any.

[0029] If the management table does not contain a record storing the input serial designated number, the settlement machine 40 displays a screen for inputting the vehicle compartment number (step SB8). The user inputs the vehicle compartment number of vehicle compartment 41 on the input screen. The settlement machine 40 searches the management table for a record storing the input vehicle compartment number (step SB9), and obtains the entry date and time stored in the record found in the search (step SB4). The settlement machine 40 calculates the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403 (step SB5). The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins (step SB6).

[0030] If there are multiple records storing the input serial number (NO in step SB7), the settlement machine 40 retrieves an image file from the records found in the search (step SB10). The settlement machine 40 displays an image indicated by the retrieved image file on the touch panel 403 (step SB11). For example, if vehicles are stored in compartment 41 with compartment number 1 and compartment 45 with compartment number 5, and the serial number on the license plate of the vehicle stored in compartment 41 is the same as the serial number on the license plate of the vehicle stored in compartment 45, the settlement machine 40 displays an image of the vehicle stored in compartment 41 and an image of the vehicle stored in compartment 45.

[0031] The user selects an image of his / her vehicle from among the displayed images. When the user selects one of the displayed images, the settlement machine 40 acquires the entry date and time from the record that stores the image file of the selected image in the management table (step SB12). The settlement machine 40 acquires the elapsed time from the acquired entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403 (step SB5). When displaying the parking fee, the settlement machine 40 may also display the vehicle compartment number stored in the record from which the entry date and time were acquired. The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins (step SB6). For example, when the user selects an image of a vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 41, the settlement machine 40 acquires the entry date and time from the record in which the image file of this image is stored, i.e., the record in which the vehicle compartment number cell has 1 stored, acquires the elapsed time from the acquired entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403. A user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins.

[0032] In addition, when the settlement machine 40 judges NO in step SB7, the settlement machine 40 may perform the following process instead of the above-mentioned process. When there is no record in the management table in which the inputted serial designated number is stored, the settlement machine 40 displays images of all image files stored in the management table on the touch panel 403. For example, when the vehicle number recognition device 50 cannot recognize the serial designated number of the license plate of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 41, the vehicle number of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 41 is not stored in the record with the vehicle room number 1. In this case, even if the user of the vehicle room 41 inputs the serial designated number of the vehicle that has entered, the settlement machine 40 judges NO in step SB7. Here, for example, when the record with the vehicle room number 1 in the management table stores the image file of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 41 and the record with the vehicle room number 5 stores the image file of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 45, the settlement machine 40 displays the image of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 41 and the image of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle room 45.

[0033] The user selects an image of his / her vehicle from among the displayed images. When the user selects one of the displayed images, the settlement machine 40 obtains the entry date and time from the record that stores the image file of the selected image in the management table. The settlement machine 40 obtains the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403. The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins. For example, when the user selects an image of a vehicle that has entered the parking space 41, the settlement machine 40 obtains the entry date and time from the record that stores the image file of this image, i.e., the record in which 1 is stored in the cell of the parking space number, obtains the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403. The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The payment machine 40 settles parking fees using inserted bills and coins.

[0034] According to this embodiment, the user can settle the fee for the parking lot 3 using the serial designated number of the vehicle, which is unlikely to be mistaken, and it is possible to prevent incorrect settlement.

[0035] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the devices related to the settlement system 1 is the same as in the first embodiment, but the operation of the settlement machine 40 is different from that in the first embodiment. The differences from the first embodiment will be described below.

[0036] In the second embodiment, the operation when a vehicle enters the parking space 4 is the same as in the first embodiment. An example of the operation when a user settles a parking fee in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0037] When a user of space 41 wishes to settle the usage fee, the user performs a settlement start operation on touch panel 403 of settlement machine 40. When the settlement start operation is performed, settlement machine 40 displays all vehicle numbers stored in the management table on touch panel 403 (step SC1). For example, when vehicles are stored in space 41 and space 45, the vehicle numbers of the vehicle stored in space 41 and the vehicle numbers of the vehicle stored in space 45 are stored in the management table. In this case, settlement machine 40 displays the vehicle numbers of the vehicle stored in space 41 and the vehicle numbers of the vehicle stored in space 45. It should be noted that settlement machine 40 displays, for example, the place name, classification number, hiragana, alphabetic characters, and a series of designated numbers on the license plate as the vehicle numbers.

[0038] The user selects the vehicle number of his / her vehicle from the displayed vehicle numbers. When the user selects one of the displayed vehicle numbers, the settlement machine 40 obtains the entry date and time from the record storing the selected vehicle number in the management table (step SC2). The settlement machine 40 calculates the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403 (step SC3). The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins (step SC4).

[0039] In this embodiment, if there is no record in the management table storing the vehicle number when the settlement start operation is performed, the settlement machine 40 may perform the process from step SB7 in the first embodiment described above. Also, in this embodiment, the settlement machine 40 may display the vehicle number stored in the management table and an image of the image file stored in the management table in association with the vehicle number.

[0040] According to this embodiment, the fee for using the parking lot 3 can be settled using the vehicle number that is unlikely to be mistaken by the user, and it is possible to prevent incorrect settlement.

[0041] [Third embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the devices related to the settlement system 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the operation of the settlement machine 40 is different from that of the first embodiment. The differences from the first embodiment will be described below.

[0042] In the third embodiment, the operation when a vehicle enters the parking space 4 is the same as in the first embodiment. An example of the operation when a user settles a parking fee in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0043] When a user of space 41 wishes to settle the usage fee, he or she performs a settlement start operation on touch panel 403 of settlement machine 40. When the settlement start operation is performed, settlement machine 40 displays images of all image files stored in the management table on touch panel 403 (step SD1). For example, when vehicles are stored in space 41 and space 45, an image file of an image of the vehicle stored in space 41 and an image file of an image of the vehicle stored in space 45 are stored in the management table. In this case, settlement machine 40 displays an image of the vehicle stored in space 41 and an image of the vehicle stored in space 45.

[0044] The user selects an image of his / her vehicle from the displayed vehicle images. When the user selects one of the displayed vehicle images, the settlement machine 40 obtains the entry date and time from the record storing the image file of the selected image in the management table (step SD2). The settlement machine 40 calculates the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, calculates the parking fee according to the elapsed time, and displays it on the touch panel 403 (step SD3). The user pays the parking fee by inserting bills or coins into the settlement unit 406. The settlement machine 40 settles the parking fee with the inserted bills or coins (step SD4).

[0045] According to this embodiment, the payment of the parking fee for the parking lot 3 can be made using an image of the vehicle that is unlikely to be mistaken for a vehicle by a user, and therefore, incorrect payment can be prevented.

[0046] [Variations] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be implemented in various other forms. For example, the above embodiment may be modified as follows to implement the present invention. The above embodiment and the following modifications may be combined with each other.

[0047] In the embodiment described above, the settlement machine 40 is configured to obtain the serial designated number of the license plate of the vehicle entered into the vehicle compartment 4, but it may also be configured to input the place name, classification number, hiragana characters, and alphabetic characters of the license plate, and search the management table for records that store information matching the input information.

[0048] In the above-described embodiment, when there are multiple records storing the series of designated numbers entered by the user, an image file is obtained from the records found in the search and an image from the obtained image file is displayed. However, instead of an image file, a parking space number may be obtained from the records found in the search and the obtained parking space number may be displayed. In this case, the user selects the parking space number of the parking space 4 that he or she used from among the displayed parking space numbers. When the user selects one of the displayed parking space numbers, the settlement machine 40 may obtain the entry date and time from the record storing the selected parking space number in the management table, calculate the elapsed time from the obtained entry date and time, and calculate the parking fee according to the elapsed time and display it on the touch panel 403.

[0049] In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle number of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 4 and the image file of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 4 are stored in the management table based on the image of the vehicle captured by the terminal device 30. However, the vehicle number of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 4 and the image file of the vehicle that has entered the vehicle compartment 4 may be stored in the management table based on the image captured by a camera other than the camera 306 provided in the terminal device 30. For example, the image of a surveillance camera installed in the parking lot 3 capturing images of the vehicle compartments 41 to 45 is transmitted to the settlement machine 40. The surveillance camera is an example of the imaging device according to the present invention. When the settlement machine 40 determines from the image of the surveillance camera that the vehicle has entered the vehicle compartment 41, it stores the image file of the entered vehicle in the record in the management table that stores the vehicle compartment number of the vehicle compartment 4 into which the vehicle entered. In addition, the settlement machine 40 is configured to have the functionality of a vehicle number recognition device 50, and when it determines from the surveillance camera footage that a vehicle has entered the vehicle compartment 41, it recognizes the vehicle number of the entered vehicle and stores the recognized vehicle number in a record that stores the vehicle compartment number of the vehicle compartment 4 into which the vehicle has entered.

[0050] In the above-described embodiment, the input device used by the user to operate the settlement machine 40 is the touch panel 403, but instead of the touch panel 403, a number of buttons may be provided as input devices on the settlement machine 40, and the user may operate the settlement machine 40 by pressing the buttons.

[0051] In the embodiment described above, settlement unit 406 settles the usage fee with inserted bills and coins, but it may also be configured to allow settlement in a cashless manner, such as with a cash card or electronic payment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1...Payment system, 3...Parking lot, 4...Vehicle compartment, 30...Terminal device, 40...Payment machine, 50...Vehicle number recognition device, 301...Control unit, 302...Memory unit, 303...Display, 305...Communication unit, 306...Camera, 307...Speaker, 401...Control unit, 402...Memory unit, 403...Touch panel, 405...Communication unit, 406...Payment unit, 407...Speaker, 501...Control unit, 502...Memory unit, 505...Communication unit

Claims

1. This settlement system associates an image of a vehicle entering a parking lot with vehicle space information indicating the space in which the vehicle is parked and stores them in a management table, and when a user performs an operation to start settling the parking lot usage fee, displays images of all vehicles parked in any of the vehicle spaces in the parking lot stored in the management table, and settles the parking fee for the vehicle parked in the space indicated by the vehicle space information stored in association with an image selected by the user from among the displayed images.

2. Using images of vehicles captured by imaging devices provided in each of the parking lots The settlement system according to claim 1 .

3. Using an image of a vehicle captured by a photographing device that photographs an area of ​​the parking lot that does not correspond to each of the multiple vehicle compartments The settlement system according to claim 1 .

Images