TIMER APPARATUS

Abstract

Described are timer apparatus comprising: a timer configured to measure a predetermined time period associated with a physical location, the timer comprising: a front housing; and input controls comprising one or more buttons for interacting with the timer to configure the predetermined time period associated with a physical location; a lower housing; and a cover housing reversibly attachable to the lower housing to form an interior and to secure the timer within the interior; wherein when the cover housing is attached to the lower housing and the timer is secured within the interior: the front housing is exposed to an external environment of the physical location, and the input controls are located above a highest edge of the lower housing.

Claims

1. A timer apparatus comprising: a) a timer configured to measure a predetermined time period associated with a physical location, the timer comprising: a front housing; and input controls comprising one or more buttons for interacting with the timer to configure the predetermined time period associated with a physical location; b) a lower housing; and c) a cover housing reversibly attachable to the lower housing to form an interior and to secure the timer within the interior; wherein when the cover housing is attached to the lower housing and the timer is secured within the interior: the front housing is exposed to an external environment of the physical location, and the input controls are located above a highest edge of the lower housing.

2. The timer apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the cover housing is attached to the lower housing and the timer is secured within the interior the timer is protected from the external environment of the physical location.

3. The timer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information pertaining to the predetermined time period comprises a duration or an expiration.

4. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) element configured to identify the physical location.

5. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate information pertaining to the time period.

6. The timer apparatus of claim 5, wherein the wireless transceiver communicates via a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network.

7. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a solar panel and a solar power charging arrangement.

8. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an electronic sensor configured to detect a status of the physical location.

9. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism to secure the cover housing to the lower housing.

10. The timer apparatus of claim 1, configured to upgrade the lower housing by retrofit.

11. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display screen for displaying information pertaining to the predetermined time period.

12. The timer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a radio frequency (RF) electronic card reader.

Description

[0043] Referring to the drawings, in particular FIGS. 1 and 2, a parking meter device in accordance with the invention is designated generally by reference numeral 10. The parking meter device 10 is for a single bay parking meter. The parking meter device 10 has a lower portion 12 and an upper portion 14. The lower portion 12 of the parking meter device 10 has the same shape and dimensions as the housing base of conventional known single bay parking meter devices. As will be explained below, because the lower portion 12 of the parking meter device in accordance with the invention has the same shape and dimensions as existing single bay parking meter devices, the parking meter device 10 in accordance with the invention is receivable in a housing base of an existing installed parking meter and the parking meter device 10 of the invention may be retrofitted to such existing installed meters, thereby upgrading them.

[0044] The lower portion 12 of the parking meter device 10 has a coin accepting and validating assembly 16 with a coin slot 18.

[0045] In the upper portion 14 of the parking meter device there is a card reading device 20 with an access opening 22, on a front side of the parking meter device 10, into which a credit or debit card may be inserted to be read by the reading device 20. Also in the upper portion 14, on its front side, are a keypad sensor 24 and a display 26. An infrared receiver and transmitter 27 are provided whereby management data and operational software may be transferred to and from a portable communication device (not shown).

[0046] On the rear side of the upper portion 14 of the parking meter device 10 (FIG. 2) there is a solar panel 28 and a flip dot expiry indicator. A red LED 31 and a green LED 33 are also provided to indicate if the paid for parking period has expired or not. In use these LED's are illuminated in a flashing manner.

[0047] Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 a single bay parking meter 32 is shown. The parking meter 32 has a housing base 34 which is the same as that of existing conventional single bay parking meters. It also has a cover 36 which is different from the covers of existing parking meters, and which accommodates and is adapted in accordance with the upper portion 14 of the parking meter device 10 of the invention. It will be seen that that part of the parking meter device 10 having the coin slot 18 and card reader access opening 22 are located in an opening defined between the housing base 34 and cover 36 to be accessible when the parking meter device 10 is placed in the housing 34 and the cover 36 closed.

[0048] The cover 36 has, on its front side, a window 38 through which the display 26 is visible and control touch keys 40 which interact with the keypad sensor 24. On its rear side the cover 36 as a further window 40 for the solar panel 28. An opening 42 is provided between the housing 34 and cover 36 for the flip dot 30. A key hole 44 is located in the housing 34 by means of which the cover 36 may be unlocked and opened, as shown in FIG. 6, so that the parking meter device 10 may be removed and replaced, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0049] The various electrical and other components of the parking meter device 10 are indicated in FIG. 8. Thus, the parking meter device 10 has the coin accepting and validating assembly 16, the card reading device 20, the display 26, the touch keys 40, and the solar panel 28 referred to above. In addition there is a power management facility 46, a rechargeable, replaceable battery 48, random access memory 50, a central controller 52, flash memory 54 for code, a real time clock 56, a coin validator interface 58, a card reader interface 60 for cards having chips and magnetic strips and for RF electronic purses, a receiver 62 for signals from such RF electronic purses, I/O hardware 64, sensors, switches and reset 66, an expiry indicator 68, a display driver for the display 26, a communications subsystem 72, a cellular phone engine 74 with its antenna 76, a Wi-Fi engine 78 and its antenna 80, a GPS unit 82 and its antenna 84 and a serial/USB/IrDA port 86.

[0050] The controller 52 controls operation of the meter. An integrated device is used, providing RAM, ROM, and some I/O capabilities. Power down features are of high importance when selecting the microcontroller, as the meter is typically in the idle or sleep mode. A serial port is provided for debug as well as connection to an external management system.

[0051] To minimize power consumption, special power management circuitry is provided to allow application of power to only the necessary peripherals at only the necessary times. The power management facility also provides battery status to the microcontroller to allow changes in operation based on available power, as well as health reporting to the management system.

[0052] An AMP card reader will be used as the external electrical/mechanical credit/smart card solution. One of two interfaces to the AMP device is the card head interface. A Magtek Triple Track ASIC will be used to convert the analog head signals to serial bit streams, readable by the microcontroller. The second interface to the external AMP card connector is the smart card interface. This block will provide necessary level shifting and synchronization to allow the microcontroller to bit-bang the smart card interface.

[0053] The coin validator interface 58 is an analog/digital block that connects to 3 coils in the coin validator 16. The coils are energized, and the change in inductance is measured as the coin passes through each of the coils. This profile can then be correlated by the microcontroller to a database of known coins to determine the type of coin present.

[0054] The parking meter device 10 contains a number of switches such as touch keys for user input, presence detection in the card reader, and door switches. The I/O hardware 64 allows the microcontroller to sense the state of the switches.

[0055] An expansion interface may be provided that will allow a daughter card assembly to be connected to the controller board. The communication protocol over the interface will support a minimum throughput of 20 KB/s. The expansion interface is intended to allow the addition of a communication device to the meter. Possible device types are: cellular, WiFi, Zigbee, and IrDA. Both communication signals and power will be provided through the expansion connector.

[0056] The following will be displayed on the display 26:which of the 4 user buttons are pressed; information from a credit card; information from a smart card; which coins are passed through the coin validator.

[0057] As described in the introduction, a motorist will approach the meter and insert either a coin or card into the meter. Either method will wake up the electronic componentry and it will then either validate that it is a coin, credit card, debit/ATM card or a Smart Card. By inserting either the required number of valid coins or by inserting a card and manipulating the controls on the touch pad the motorist can determine the amount of parking time he wishes to purchase. The amount of time purchased is then displayed on the electronic display. The parking meter device will communicate with the credit card company wirelessly and authorize the payment using that card.

[0058] Payment via an electronic tag or electronic toll road pass will be as follows. The device will either sense or be advised by an electronic sensor that a motor vehicle has parked in the parking space. It will then identify the electronic tag in the vehicle and after the vehicle has been in that parking space for a predetermined time will then deduct time from the vehicles electronic tag for a predetermined length of time and display that time on the electronic device's LCD Display. After that time has been used up and the vehicle is still parked in that same parking space the device will again deduct the required amount of money from the vehicles electronic tag and display that amount of time on the device's LCD display. This process will repeat itself until the vehicle has stayed in the parking space for the maximum amount of time allowed for that parking zone or area.

[0059] At a time determined by the owner or the controller of the parking area, the device will communicate with a management system. This can be done wirelessly or through a hand held device.