Device for monitoring a vehicle parking space

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for monitoring a parking space ( 2 ) for a vehicle ( 3 ), comprising a camera unit ( 23 ) assigned to the parking space ( 2 ) and mounted thereon to record a picture of a frontal license plate ( 10 ) of the vehicle ( 3 ), a lighting unit ( 8, 8′, 8″ ) assigned to the parking space ( 2 ) and mounted thereon to project a light fan ( 9 ) lying in an approximately vertical plane along a boundary of the parking space ( 2 ) as a surface marking ( 7′ ), wherein the camera unit ( 23 ) lies approximately in the plane of the light fan ( 9 ) and has an opening angle (a) which covers both the surface marking ( 7, 7′ ) and the license plate ( 10 ).

1 . A device for monitoring a parking space for a vehicle, comprising:
 a camera unit assigned to the parking space and to be mounted thereon to record a picture of a frontal license plate of the vehicle, and   a lighting unit assigned to the parking space and to be mounted thereon for projecting a light fan lying in a substantially vertical plane along a boundary of the parking space as a surface marking,   wherein the camera unit lies substantially in the plane of the light fan such that by means thereof an interruption or shadowing of the surface marking is detectable, and has an opening angle which covers both the surface marking and the license plate.   
     
     
         2 . The device according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the light fan projected by the lighting unit is in the visible wavelength range. 
     
     
         3 . The device according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the camera unit is mounted at a height between 10 and 120 cm. 
     
     
         4 . The device according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the lighting unit is mounted above the camera unit. 
     
     
         5 . The device according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the camera unit is configured to OCR-read a vehicle license plate number from the license plate. 
     
     
         6 . A parking lot with a plurality of parking spaces for vehicles, each parking space comprising:
 a camera unit assigned to the parking space and mounted thereon to record a picture of a frontal license plate of a vehicle; and   a lighting unit that projects a light fan-lying in a substantially vertical plane along a boundary of the parking space as a surface marking;   wherein the camera unit lies substantially in the plane of the light fan such that by means thereof an interruption or shadowing of the surface marking is detectable, and has an opening angle which covers both the surface marking and the license plate.   
     
     
         7 . The parking lot to  claim 6 , for vehicles that have license plates with OCR-readable license plate numbers and onboard units with radio IDs that can be read out via radio, each camera unit being configured to OCR-read a vehicle license plate number from a license plate, comprising:
 a central computer for storing parking space reservations each comprising a parking space identifier, a license plate number and an assigned radio ID,   a radio beacon common to the parking spaces that is positioned at an entrance of the parking lot and is configured for reading out the radio ID of an entering vehicle via radio and correspondingly signaling the radio ID to the central computer, and   for every parking space each said camera unit being configured to signal the OCR-read license plate number of a vehicle parking thereon to a central computer,   wherein the central computer is configured to check whether for a radio ID signaled to the central computer the vehicle license plate number assigned thereto in a stored parking space reservation is subsequently signaled by the camera unit of this parking space, and to log instances in which this is not the case.   
     
     
         8 . The parking lot according to  claim 7 , characterized in that the camera unit together with the central computer detects and logs a covering of the surface marking by a vehicle parking thereon. 
     
     
         9 . The parking lot according to  claim 7 , characterized in that an additional camera unit for OCR-reading the license plate number of an entering vehicle and signaling the license plate number to the central computer is mounted at the entrance, and in that the central computer is further configured to check whether a signaled radio ID and a vehicle license plate number signaled by the additional camera unit are assigned to one another in a parking space reservation, and to log instances in which this is not the case. 
     
     
         10 . The parking lot according to  claim 7 , characterized in that a display panel controlled by the central computer is mounted at the entrance, and in that the central computer is configured to display the parking space that is assigned to a radio ID signaled to the central computer in a parking space reservation on the display panel. 
     
     
         11 . The parking lot according to  claim 7 , characterized in that the radio beacon is a DSRC (dedicated short-range communication) radio beacon for reading out onboard units of a DSRC road toll system via radio. 
     
     
         12 . The parking lot according to  claim 7 , characterized in that at least one parking space is equipped with an electric vehicle charging station controlled by the central computer wherein the central computer is further configured to unlock the charging station for charging the vehicle after successfully checking the vehicle license plate number signaled by the camera unit of this parking space. 
     
     
         13 . The parking lot according to  claim 12 , characterized in that the parking space reservation for said parking space contains charging parameters that are specific to the vehicle and transmitted to the charging station by the central computer. 
     
     
         14 . The parking lot according to  claim 13 , characterized in that the vehicle-specific charging parameters are read from the onboard unit by the radio beacon and added to the parking space reservation. 
     
     
         15 . The parking lot according to  claim 12 , characterized in that the camera unit of said parking space also records a thermal image of the vehicle during the charging process in order to trigger an alarm if a maximum temperature is exceeded. 
     
     
         16 . The device according to  claim 3 , characterized in that the camera unit is mounted at a height between 25 and 50 cm. 
     
     
         17 . The parking lot according to  claim 6 , wherein each light fan delimits two neighboring parking spaces from each other. 
     
     
         18 . The parking lot according to  claim 6 , characterized in that for each parking space, the light fan projected by the lighting unit is in the visible wavelength range. 
     
     
         19 . The parking lot according to  claim 6 , characterized in that each camera unit is mounted at a height between 10 and 120 cm. 
     
     
         20 . The parking lot according to  claim 6 , characterized in that for each parking space, the lighting unit is mounted above the camera unit.