Duncan Industries Parking Control Systems Corp.

Technicare Corporation

Duncan Industries Parking Control Corp.

Emerson Electric Company

Dsc Communications Corporation

Ducan Industries Parking Control Corp.

Ralph H Carmen

John W Van Horn

Joseph H Sutton

James M Rodgers

Stephen A Deschaine

Douglas W Smith

Izrail Tsals

Govind Shah

Geoffrey F Ringle

Thomas G Moore, Jr

J Michael Rodgers

Mark N Bonner

Peter A Basile

Gorm Tuxen

Ronald K Hamlin

Daniel P Kasuba

A parking meter construction having an upper and lower housing with payment means for receiving coins or a payment card. A microprocessor and other electronic components are included on a PC board mounted in the upper housing. A modular jack is connected to terminals of the microprocessor for communication therewith, and the jack is supported in the meter for connection with any of a large variety of peripheral devices which can then utilize the microprocessor in their operation. A plurality of peripheral devices may be linked together and all kept in communication with the microprocessor.

Parking meter with peripheral functions

A coin-sensing system wherein at least two sensor coils are electrically connected in series and physically arranged so that a coin deposited into the apparatus may pass sequentially through each sensor coil and thereby change the impedance of the coil. A sensor oscillator circuit incorporates the sensor coils to output an oscillating sensor signal at a frequency dependent on the impedance of the sensor coils. Counters measure the frequency of the sensor signal to obtain a frequency signature for the deposited coin which can be compared with frequency signatures of valid coins. The oscillator circuit may produce a lower frequency oscillating sensor signal or a higher frequency oscillating sensor signal and electronic switches are included in the circuit for switching from one of the frequency levels to the other after the deposited coin encounters a first sensor coil and before the deposited coin encounters a second sensor coil.

Coin discrimination system

An electronic parking meter operating system comprising a microprocessor mounted within a meter housing, a semiconductor disc memory having at least 8K memory bytes, and a plurality of programs stored in the disc memory. A meter event such as the deposit of a coin will cause interrogation of an auxiliary program module map to determine if one of the plurality of programs should be used to substitute for or augment a program which is provided in the microprocessor to normally carry out meter functions. If substitution or augmentation is called for, an address table in the memory disc is used to locate the selected program, to load it into the microprocessor, and to execute the program.

Electronic parking meter operating system

A portable time metering device particularly adaptable as an in-car parking meter for parking in a plurality of zones comprises a plurality of bank registers, each bank register having stored therein information representing a monetary value and each of the plurality of zones corresponding to one bank register. The device selectively determines whether a sufficient monetary value is stored in a corresponding bank register of a selected zone to allow parking in the zone. The device further determines a total amount of time parked in a selected zone if parking is allowed. The total amount of time is then used to deduct an amount from the monetary value of the corresponding bank. The device also includes a communication component for transmitting and receiving data.

Portable time metering device

A coin detection apparatus is disclosed which is particularly suitable for low power applications. The coin detection apparatus utilizes a detector coil as part of a resonant circuit. The resonant circuit with no coin present in the detector coil has a damped impulse response. When a coin is present within the detector coil, the damping of the impulse response of the resonant circuit is increased. Periodic generation of an impulse input to the resonant circuit and measurement of the resulting impulse response enables the presence of a coin within the detector coil to be ascertained.

Resonant coil coin detection apparatus

An apparatus for sensing coins is disclosed which is capable of distinguishing between valid and non-valid coins as well as between the different denominations of coins. The apparatus is useful for application in coin-operated parking meters as well as other coin-operated machines. The apparatus makes use of a twin-coil sensor which enables it to distinguish between small coins with high metal content and large coins with low metal content.

Dual coil coin sensing apparatus

A coin operated timing mechanism for a parking meter and the like including a time display, a microprocessor for controlling the setting and operation of the display, a battery or similar self-contained power source, and a power regulation sub-system designed to minimize power consumption during operation of the mechanism. The power regulation system provides, on demand, voltage of either 3.5 or 5 volts. The higher power consumption 5-volt supply is available when necessary for short periods to read a NOVRAM device which stores operational parameters. The 3.5 volt mode is used during normal coin handling and timekeeping and during periods of communication wiht the microprocessor for changing the operating parameters or for auditing of the system. The mechanism includes coin actuated switches which are adjustable to insure most efficient operation including screening of spurious coins. The circuit includes a low power drain feature which operates upon actuation of a switch to permit computation by the microprocessor at a slow rate.

Coin operated timing mechanism

A low-power receiver for extracting a digital data signal from a modulated carrier signal is disclosed. The receiver employs an amplifier whose stages share the same bias current in order to reduce power consumption.

Low-power demodulating receiver with amplifier stages sharing the same

A token receiving chute for use in a token operated device is disclosed. The chute is designed so that a token inserted therein will fall toward an appropriate location due to the force of gravity. In order to decrease the kinetic energy imparted to the falling token, and thereby increase the accuracy of various coin sensing devices to be subsequently employed, an inclined wall section is provided for imparting lateral momentum to the falling token causing it to bounce back and forth between the side walls.

Chute for controlling the motion of a token moving by gravity through a

An improved magnetic field sensor for detecting tokens is disclosed which has one Hall effect sensor located between a magnet and an inclined token track base and another Hall effect sensor located between another magnet and the inclined token track base. The Hall effect sensors are placed at distances above the inclined token track base which optimize their accuracy in detecting tokens which have two concentric regions with different magnet characteristics.

Sensor for measuring the magnetically responsive characteristics of

A coin operated timing mechanism for a parking meter and the like including a time display, a microprocessor for controlling the setting and operation of the display, a battery or similar self-contained power source, and a power regulation sub-system designed to minimize power consumption during operation of the mechanism. The power regulation system provides, on demand, voltage of either 3.5 or 5 volts. The highest power consumption 5-volt supply is available when necessary for short periods to read a NOVRAM device which stores operational parameters. The 3.5 volt mode is used during normal coin handling and timekeeping and during periods of communication with the microprocessor for changing the operating parameters or for auditing of the system. The mechanism includes coin actuated switches which are adjustable to insure most efficient operation including screening of spurious coins. The circuit includes a low power drain feature which operates upon actuation of a switch to permit computation by the microprocessor at a slow rate.

A low power device for sorting tokens as part of a coin-operated meter is disclosed. The device sorts a token while it is falling under the influence of gravity and assures that a movable gate, which directs the token to one of two paths, is in the proper position before the token reaches the gate. Power to move the gate is used only when the position of the gate is to be changed.

Low-power device for sorting tokens

A switch (10) which uses optical signals propagating through an air media is disclosed. Transmitters (14a-14n) radiate light along projection openings (40) through a solid, opaque housing (12). The projection openings (40) parallel each other and substantially reside in a lower plane (32) within the housing (12). Periscopic plugs (30) reflect such light upward along an intermediate direction (38) within the plugs (30) and out from the plugs (30) into incidence openings (42). The incidence openings (42) parallel each other and substantially reside in an upper plane (34) within the housing (12). Optical receivers (16a-16n) receive light propagating in the incidence openings (42). The incidence openings (42) reside substantially perpendicular to the projection openings (40).

Optical switch

A remote transponder unit is secured to the front of an electricity meter which, in turn, is electrically connected to an electric distribution system. The remote transponder unit is adjacent the power measuring disk of the electricity meter without obscuring the analog display of the meter. The transponder transmits data over the electric distribution system, including data representing the energy used by a user. The transponder unit includes a housing which is secured to the base of the meter and is electrically connected through the electricity meter through the electric distribution system.

Integrated remote electricity meter transponder and combination

An improved ultrasonic imaging system and method are provided for medical diagnostic purposes. In order to store additional digital ultrasonic imaging information in a limited memory, a first digital signal representative of a video input signal is provided. The first digital signal comprises a series of digital amplitude samples of the transverse component of the input signal. A second series of samples is provided from the first series. Each element of the second series is the arithmetic average of a group of elements of the first series. The second series of elements is stored. Since the number of elements of the second series is less than the number of elements of the first series, memory density of the transverse component of the input signal is decreased.

Growing community of inventors

Lebanon, NJ, United States of America

Ralph H Carmen