JP3220658B2 - Vehicle traffic management system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to traffic management for vehicles passing on toll roads such as expressways, traffic management for vehicles entering and exiting toll parking lots, and traffic management for vehicles entering and leaving sites such as factories. The present invention relates to a vehicle traffic management system.

In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle traffic management system capable of processing settlement of tolls on toll roads without relying on humans.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In a traffic management system for vehicles passing on a highway, a gate is arranged at an interchange, which is an entrance of the highway, and vehicles entering the highway from there are obtained by obtaining a toll ticket. It is possible to specify the gate where the fee is generated. Also, when leaving the highway, if the driver passes the toll ticket to the attendant waiting at the exit gate, the toll is calculated based on the toll ticket and the toll is calculated by cash, prepaid card, credit card, etc. Payment is made.

As described above, in a general toll road vehicle traffic management system, a driver of a vehicle passing therethrough obtains a toll ticket at an entrance gate and submits the toll ticket at an exit gate. , A toll calculation is performed. In addition, the fare settlement is performed by an attendant who has received the toll ticket or an automatic fare clearing machine.

Similarly, in a toll parking lot, a gate is arranged at the entrance and a ticket is issued to a driver of a vehicle entering the parking lot to manage the parking fee. When exiting the parking lot, the ticket is used to settle the parking fee at a checkout machine installed at the exit gate.

On the other hand, in factories and the like, guards monitor vehicles entering and exiting the facility, so that outsiders and the like cannot enter the factories.

[0007]

However, the highway traffic management system is based on the premise that a driver of a traffic vehicle carries a toll ticket. However, taking out a toll ticket from a ticket issuing machine at an entrance gate and getting on a highway or the like causes traffic congestion at the entrance gate. In addition, taking out a toll ticket from a ticket issuing machine, carrying it, and submitting it at an exit gate is extremely troublesome for a vehicle driver. Further, the transfer of cash or the like in order to perform toll settlement at the exit gate is one of the major causes of traffic congestion at the exit gate.

In addition, stolen vehicles and the like can often be found by monitoring passing vehicles at entrance gates, exit gates, and the like. However, in the related art, such monitoring is performed manually, and for example, there is an adverse effect that it is not expected to perform an accurate discovery operation at night or the like.

Furthermore, in order to accurately inform traffic vehicles on a highway or the like in real time, it is desirable to be able to accurately confirm the number of vehicles traveling on a highway or the like.

Next, parking management in a parking lot and management and settlement of parking fees are also performed based on the issued tickets. The ticket must be removed by the vehicle driver from the ticket issuing machine and carried until the vehicle leaves the parking lot.

On the other hand, it is not efficient and costly to manage vehicles entering and leaving a factory or the like by hand.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide:
An object of the present invention is to propose a vehicle traffic management system capable of efficiently managing traffic on a toll road such as an expressway.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a vehicle traffic management system capable of efficiently performing parking management of a vehicle in a parking lot or the like without relying on humans.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle traffic management system that allows a vehicle to enter and exit a specific section such as a factory efficiently without relying on humans.

[0015]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle traffic management system according to the present invention comprises:
A function of transmitting identification information of the vehicle is provided, and gate information for specifying a gate that has passed is stored, and on the gate side, vehicle identification information transmitted by a passing vehicle is received, and the gate is specified. A function to transmit gate information to the passing vehicle is provided.

In this way, for example, on the side of the vehicle passing through the entrance gate of the highway, the gate that has passed is stored, so that at the exit gate of the highway,
The toll can be calculated based on the gate information stored in each vehicle. Therefore, there is no need to manage tolls using toll tickets.

Further, by transmitting the information from the exit gate side to the headquarters device in a form in which the identification information of the vehicle transmitted from each vehicle and the toll of the vehicle are associated with each other, On the side of the device, the toll of each vehicle can be periodically tabulated, for example, to make a payment with a credit card. Therefore, it is not necessary to clear the traffic area at the exit gate each time, so that there is less possibility that traffic congestion will occur at the exit gate.

Further, if the identification information is transmitted to each vehicle as described above, the passing vehicle can be specified quickly and accurately by using a computer system or the like.
Therefore, for example, it is possible to accurately determine a stolen vehicle or the like. In addition, on the side of the headquarters device, it is possible to accurately calculate how many vehicles enter from which gate and which vehicle exits from which gate, so how many vehicles are passing in the road area between which gates There is also obtained an effect that traffic information such as a traffic information can be accurately detected.

Here, the gate is provided with the gate-side communication device, and transmits and receives gate information and vehicle identification information to and from a passing vehicle. A check gate for prohibiting the vehicle from entering the toll road when the transmission / reception of the gate information and the vehicle identification information at the communication gate has not been properly performed. It is configured to include and. With this configuration, the driver can be notified that the communication device of the vehicle is not operating.

Further, according to the present invention, when the communication device is out of order,
Assuming the case, the gate is further provided with a ticket issuing unit that issues a ticket for entry into the toll road to a vehicle prohibited from entering the toll road by the check gate .

Further, according to the present invention, the ride on the toll road is performed.
There is an exit road to return vehicles whose entry is prohibited to general roads
ing.

Next, in the vehicle traffic management system of the present invention,
Indicates that the communication device on which the vehicle driver is
A notifier who notifies you so that you can check if there is
The steps are located in the operating section of the driver's seat. Such an informant
The steps are indication lamps attached to the operation surface of the driver's seat of the vehicle,
Sound display means such as speakers attached to the driver's seat
Can be. Of course, both of them may be equipped.

[0023] Such an informing means is provided by an in-vehicle accessory power supply.
The onboard battery is turned on / off in
A battery may be used as a driving power source.

On the other hand, in the vehicle operation management system of the present invention,
Means that the vehicle communication device is behind the license plate of the vehicle.
It is attached to the surface side. Also, in the present invention, a display lamp for indicating the fact that an external person, for example, a gate supervisor, etc. can visually check from the outside so that the vehicle-side communication device is in an operating state. Attached to
Have been . For example, it is embedded in the sealed part of the license plate so as to be visible from the outside. Here, the vehicle-mounted battery may be used as a driving power source so that such an indicator lamp is also turned on and off in conjunction with turning on and off of the vehicle-mounted accessory power supply.

Next, each configuration of the present invention can be used as it is as a vehicle operation management system in a parking lot. In this case, the gate may share the entrance gate and the exit gate.

Further, each of the above structures of the present invention can be used as it is as an operation management system for vehicles entering and exiting a specific section such as a factory. Also in this case, the gate may be shared by the entrance gate and the exit gate.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a vehicle operation management system according to the present invention is applied to vehicle operation management on a highway will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle traffic management system 3 that manages vehicles 2 (m) (m = 1, 2, 3,...) Traveling on a toll road 1 enters and exits the toll road 1. Gates 10 (n) (n)
= 1, 2, 3...), A vehicle-side communication device 20 (m) provided in the vehicle 2 (m), and a gate-side communication device 30 (n) provided in the gate 10 (n). These gate side communication devices 30 (n) and a wireless or wired communication line 40
(N) and a headquarters device 50 connected thereto.

Here, each vehicle-side communication device 20 (m)
The identification information 21 (m) of the vehicle 2 (m) can be transmitted, and the gate information 11 (n) that can specify the gate 10 (n) that has passed can be received. On the other hand, each gate communication device 30 (n) can receive the identification information 21 (m) of the passing vehicle 2 (m) and can transmit the gate information 11 (n) for identifying the gate. It is.

This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The vehicle-side communication device 20 (m) includes a transmission / reception module 21,
The microcomputer unit 22 includes an OM and a RAM, and a vehicle-mounted battery 23 as a power supply. The identification information 24 of the vehicle 2 (m) is stored in the ROM. The transmission / reception module 21 receives the traffic management information S1 transmitted from the gate-side communication device 30 (n). The received information is stored and held in the RAM. Also,
The transmission / reception module 21 includes the gate-side communication device 30 (n)
When the response request signal R is received, the identification information 24 and the information held in the RAM are transmitted to the gate side communication device 30.

On the other hand, the gate-side communication device 30
The vehicle that transmits the response request signal R, the gate information 11, and the traffic management information S to the vehicle-side communication device 20 of the vehicle 2 that passes through the gate 10, and that the vehicle-side communication device 20 transmits to the response request signal R A transmitting / receiving module 31 that receives the identification information 24 and the traffic management information S2, and a gate 10 based on the information received by the transmitting / receiving module 31
A charge calculation function for calculating a toll for the vehicle 2 that has passed
A microcomputer unit 32 including a RAM for storing the calculated toll and reception information in association with each other, a RAM for storing the gate information 11 and the like, and a power supply 33 are provided. The microcomputer unit 32
Are connected to the host computer 34 side.

Here, the transmission unit 32 of the gate-side communication device 30 transmits the response request signal R again when the reception failure of the transmission information of the vehicle-side communication device 20 of the vehicle 2 passing through the gate 10 occurs. By transmitting, the communication with the passing vehicle 2 is ensured.

Next, a preferred configuration of the vehicle-side communication device 20 will be described. As described above, since the vehicle-side communication device 20 is for transmitting vehicle information for identifying the vehicle, it is desirable that the driver cannot remove the vehicle without permission. For this purpose, it is desirable to dispose the vehicle-side communication device 20 at the license plate. Further, the vehicle-side communication device 20 needs to be set to a state in which vehicle identification information can be transmitted (ie, an operating state) at all times during driving of the vehicle. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 2, a vehicle-mounted battery is used as a power source for the communication device 20, and the communication device 20 is keyed in and turned to the on position of the vehicle electrical component.
It is desirable to form a power supply path for the above.
In this manner, in the vehicle driving state, the communication device 20 is always supplied with power and can transmit the vehicle identification information.

In addition to this configuration, in order to prevent the driver from setting the communication device 20 in an inoperable state without permission, it is visually determined whether or not the communication device 20 is operating from the outside. It is desirable to provide an identifiable indicator lamp.

FIG. 3 shows an example of mounting the vehicle-side communication device 20 on the license plate of the vehicle.

In the example shown in FIG.
Is a box-shaped storage case 71, a license plate body 73 attached to a side opening 72 of the storage case 71,
It comprises a transmitting / receiving circuit board 74 and an antenna plate 75 mounted in a space between them. A transmission / reception module 76 is mounted on the surface of the transmission / reception circuit board 74, and a light emitting body 77 such as an LED that is turned on when the transmission / reception circuit is in an operating state is attached. The luminous body 77 is arranged at the same position as the seal 78 attached to the license plate main body 73, and is in a state covered by the seal 78. This seal 78 is made of a transparent material,
Lighting / extinguishing of the luminous body 77 can be confirmed from the outside via.

Here, the storage case 71 may be formed entirely of a non-conductive material, or only a part of the non-conductive material may easily transmit radio waves in order to provide directivity to the built-in antenna plate 75. It may be formed from a conductive material. Of course, the built-in antenna plate 75 itself may be directional. When giving directivity to the built-in antenna, it is desirable to give directivity in the vertical direction, for example, as shown in FIG.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the operation of the thus configured vehicle operation management system 3 of this embodiment will be described. First, on the gate side, the vehicle is in a standby state, and calls are continuously made (step ST1). In this transmission operation, the presence or absence of communication in the same frequency band is detected by performing carrier sense (step ST2). If there is communication, communication is attempted in a different available frequency. If there is no communication in the same frequency band, a response request signal R is transmitted (step ST3).

On the side of the vehicle passing through the gate, the vehicle approaches the gate in a receivable standby state, and upon receiving the response request signal R (step ST11), carries out carrier sense (step ST12). Then, the vehicle identification information 24, the traffic management information S2, and the like are transmitted to the gate side (step ST13).

On the gate side, identification information 2 from the vehicle side
4. When a control signal including the traffic management information S2 is received (step ST4), the gate information 11 of the gate is transmitted toward the vehicle (step ST5). On the gate side,
When the gate information 11 is received from the gate side (step S
T14), and transmits a confirmation signal to the effect that the signal has been received to the gate side (step ST15). On the vehicle side passing through the gate,
When the confirmation signal is received (step ST6), the state returns to the reception standby state (step ST7). Similarly,
The gate side also returns to the standby state (step ST16).

As described above, in the vehicle-side communication device 20, the carrier sense is communicated with the gate side before communication so that it becomes difficult to recognize the same frequency when a plurality of vehicles enter the gate in a row. The communication is performed by automatically switching to an unused channel frequency. Therefore, even when many vehicles are connected, communication with each vehicle can be reliably performed.

Next, in the vehicle operation management system 3 according to the present invention, a notifying means for notifying the driver is provided to the driver's seat so that the driver of the vehicle can check whether or not the mounted communication device is operating. It is desirable to arrange them on the operation unit. Such an informing means may be a sound display means such as a display lamp attached to the operation surface of the driver's seat of the vehicle or a speaker attached to the driver's seat. Of course, both of them may be equipped. Such an informing means may use an in-vehicle battery as a driving power source so as to be turned on / off in conjunction with on / off of the on-vehicle accessory power source.

On the other hand, if the vehicle-side communication device 20 is out of order, the vehicle may not be able to enter the expressway. In order to avoid such a situation, it is desirable that the gate has a double structure. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a communication gate 30 </ b> A including the gate-side communication device having the above configuration and transmitting and receiving gate information and vehicle identification information to and from a passing vehicle, A check gate which is located in front of the vehicle and prohibits the vehicle from entering the toll road 1 if the transmission and reception of the gate information and the vehicle identification information at the communication gate have not been properly performed. 30B.

With this configuration, the driver can be notified that the communication device of the vehicle is not operating. If the vehicle cannot enter the highway, check the vehicle at check gate 30
It is desirable to form an exit road 30C for returning to the general road from B. Of course, in this case, a fork 30D returning to the toll road is formed in the middle of the exit road 30C, and a gate 30E provided with a ticket issuing machine for issuing a ticket for entering the expressway is provided on the fork 30D. If equipped, even a vehicle in which the communication device has failed can use the expressway in a normal usage form.

(Other Embodiments) The above description is an example in which the present invention is applied to a highway operation management system. The present invention can be similarly applied as a vehicle operation management system in a parking lot.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to an operation management system for vehicles entering and exiting a specific section such as a factory facility.

[0047]

As described above, in the vehicle traffic management system according to the present invention, each vehicle has a function of transmitting identification information of the vehicle and stores gate information for specifying a gate that has passed. It is. The gate side has a function of receiving vehicle identification information transmitted by a passing vehicle and transmitting gate information for specifying the gate to the passing vehicle side. Furthermore, the gate has a two-stage structure, and the first gate communicates with the vehicle, and the second gate
The gate determines whether or not to enter an expressway, a parking lot or a specific section based on the communication result.

According to the present invention configured as described above, the gate that passes through the entrance gate is stored on the side of the vehicle that passes through the entrance gate. Therefore, at the exit gate, based on the gate information stored in each vehicle, Toll can be calculated. In the operation management system of vehicles entering and exiting the parking lot,
Information and time of vehicles entering through the gate are stored,
When exiting through the gate, the parking time is calculated and the parking fee settlement process can be performed automatically.
Further, when the vehicle-side communication device is out of order, such entry of the vehicle can be prevented, so that reliable management can be performed.

Further, in the present invention, a notifying means for determining whether or not the communication device is in the operating state is arranged in the driver's seat of the vehicle. If the driver cannot confirm this when entering a highway or the like, the driver may feel uneasy, but such anxiety can be resolved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle traffic management system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a gate-side communication device and a vehicle-side communication device in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a license plate to which a vehicle-side communication device attached to the license plate is attached.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the directivity of an antenna of the vehicle-side communication device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of the vehicle operation management system of the present invention of a double gate system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Expressway 2 Vehicle 3 Vehicle traffic management system 10 Gate 11 Gate identification information 20 Vehicle side communication device 24 Vehicle identification information 30 Gate side communication device 30A Communication gate 30B Check gate 30C Exit route 30D Branch road 30E Gate provided with ticket issuing machine 70 License plate 75 Antenna plate 77 Indicator lamp 78 Sealed part S1 Traffic management information transmitted from gate side S2 Traffic management information transmitted from vehicle side

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-8-161559 (JP, A) JP-A-8-235490 (JP, A) JP-A-10-105872 (JP, A) JP-A-10-21437 (JP) JP-A-8-305914 (JP, A) JP-A-8-221617 (JP, A) JP-A-7-239954 (JP, A) JP-A-7-21423 (JP, A) 6-243385 (JP, A) JP-A-5-12598 (JP, A) JP-A-7-73350 (JP, A) JP-A-3-30199 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl ^7, DB name) G08G 1/00 -. 1/16 G07B 15/00 G07B 15/00 510

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle traffic management system for managing vehicles traveling on a toll road, a gate for entering and exiting the toll road, a vehicle-side communication device mounted on the vehicle, and a gate side mounted on the gate. A communication device, wherein the vehicle-side communication device can transmit identification information of the vehicle, and can receive gate information of a gate that has passed, and the gate-side communication device has identification information of a passing vehicle. And can transmit gate information for identifying the gate.The gate is equipped with the gate-side communication device, and transmits and receives gate information and vehicle identification information to and from passing vehicles. The communication gate to perform, and the communication gate is located on the front side of the vehicle ahead of the communication gate, and the transmission and reception of the gate information and the vehicle identification information at the communication gate are appropriate. If that were not done, the check gate for inhibiting rode of the vehicle to the toll road, the check
Entry into the toll road was banned by Kgate
Ticket for entering the toll road for the vehicle
The ticket issuance unit that issues a vehicle that is prohibited from entering the toll road
A vehicle traffic management system having an exit road returning to a general road . 2. A vehicle for managing vehicles traveling on a toll road.
In the traffic management system, a gate for entering and exiting the toll road and a vehicle
The vehicle-side communication device and the game
And the vehicle-side communication device can transmit identification information of the vehicle.
And can receive the gate information of the gate that passed
And the gate-side communication device can receive identification information of a passing vehicle.
Function and also generates gate information to identify the gate.
The gate is equipped with the gate side communication device,
Transfer of gate information and vehicle identification information to and from vehicles
Communication gate that performs
Located in front of the line and in front of the communication gate
Properly carried out transmission and reception of serial gate Information Contact and identification information of the vehicle
If the vehicle has not been
Check gates are provided to prohibit access to the vehicle.
That the vehicle-side communication device is operating.
Vehicle traffic management characterized by having a notification means
system. 3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the notification means is a vehicle.
Indicator lights attached to the operation surfaces of both driver seats and
At least one of the audio display means attached to the transfer seat
Vehicle operation management system
M 4. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said notifying means is a vehicle.
Turns on and off when both accessories are turned on and off
The feature is that the on-board battery is used as the driving power source
Vehicle traffic management system. 5. A vehicle for managing vehicles traveling on a toll road.
In the traffic management system, a gate for entering and exiting the toll road and a vehicle
The vehicle-side communication device and the game
And the vehicle-side communication device can transmit identification information of the vehicle.
And can receive the gate information of the gate that passed
And the gate-side communication device can receive identification information of a passing vehicle.
Function and also generates gate information to identify the gate.
The gate is equipped with the gate side communication device,
Transfer of gate information and vehicle identification information to and from vehicles
Communication gate that performs
Located in front of the line and in front of the communication gate
Gate information and vehicle identification information are transmitted and received properly
If the vehicle has not been
The vehicle-side communication device is provided with a check gate for prohibiting insertion.
Vehicle traffic management characterized by being attached to the side
system. 6. A vehicle for managing vehicles traveling on a toll road.
In the traffic management system, a gate for entering and exiting the toll road and a vehicle
The vehicle-side communication device and the game
And the vehicle-side communication device can transmit identification information of the vehicle.
And can receive the gate information of the gate that passed
And the gate-side communication device can receive identification information of a passing vehicle.
Function and also generates gate information to identify the gate.
A possible signal, before Symbol gate, said gate side communication apparatus is equipped with, passed
Transfer of gate information and vehicle identification information to and from vehicles
Communication gate that performs
Located in front of the line and in front of the communication gate
Gate information and vehicle identification information are transmitted and received properly
If the vehicle has not been
A check gate for prohibiting insertion, and displaying whether or not the vehicle-side communication device is in an operating state.
It has an indicator lamp, which is visible from the outside
In the sealed part of the license plate
Vehicle traffic management system characterized by being rare. 7. The display lamp according to claim 6, wherein:
Turns on / off in conjunction with turning on / off the vehicle accessory power supply
As described above, the on-board battery is used as the drive power supply.
Vehicle traffic management system. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein
In the above, the vehicle-side communication device may include:
Identification information storage that stores identification information of the equipped vehicle
Part and the gate equipped on the gate that passed
To receive the traffic management information transmitted from the communication device on the side
Unit and received information capable of storing information received by the receiving unit
A storage unit, and a response request signal from the gate-side communication device.
Upon receipt, the identification information and the received information storage unit
The stored information is transmitted to the gate-side communication device.
A transmission unit for the vehicle passing through the gate.
A response request signal and a traffic pipe to the vehicle-side communication device
A transmitting unit for transmitting the response information,
Vehicle identification information and communication transmitted by the vehicle-side communication device.
A receiving unit that receives the line management information, and information received by the receiving unit.
Information to calculate the toll for vehicles passing through the gate.
The toll calculator that issues the toll and the calculated toll
Traffic management information that associates and stores information received by the communication unit
Vehicle traffic management to feature that a storage means
system. 9. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein
The transmission unit in the device is located on the side of the vehicle passing through the gate.
If reception failure of the transmission information of the communication device occurs,
That the response request signal is transmitted
Vehicle traffic management system. 10. The gate according to claim 9, further comprising:
Has photographing means for photographing a passing vehicle,
Cannot receive information from the side of the vehicle passing through the gate
In this case, the passing vehicle will be photographed by the photographing means.
Vehicle traffic management system characterized by
M 11. The game system according to claim 10, further comprising:
Receives the toll calculated by the toll calculator.
Vehicle traffic management characterized by having a toll clearing machine
system. 12. The headquarters device according to claim 11, wherein
Said gate-side communication device provided at each of a number of gates
And the vehicle-side communication device mounted on each vehicle.
And the traffic of the passing vehicle received by the gate-side communication device
Management information is centrally managed by the headquarters.
A vehicle traffic management system characterized by: