SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an access control method and access control system and more particularly, but not exclusively, to an access control method and access control system for controlling access to a parking bay.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Access control methods and systems are well known. Examples thereof are disclosed in the patents discussed below.

US patent number 4,713,910 entitled “BARRIER POST FOR PARKING LOTS AND PASSAGEWAYS” discloses a barrier post for the temporary blocking of the access to parking places, driveways and access roads a post is used, which is anchored in the ground and is foldable about an articulation arranged over the ground, whereby a drive is located in the post which can be activated over a receiver in correspondence with a portable emitter. Thereby, the post is suitably built as a hollow body, so that the drive and the remaining parts can be safely lodged therein. This way, the barrier post can be remote-controlled without difficulty from an approaching vehicle by means of a portable emitter, or for instance in the case of blocking the access to football stadiums, from a control center. International Publication Number WO 2016/067105 A2 entitled “SMART

PARKING BARRIER” discloses, in one example, among others, a smart parking barrier system which includes a movable parking barrier located at one end of a parking space, a barrier drive configured to control positioning of the movable parking barrier, and a parking controller configured to initiate movement of the parking barrier, via the barrier drive. The movable parking barrier can be positioned between a first position that restricts access to the parking space and a second position that allows access to the parking space. The parking controller can initiate movement of the movable parking barrier o in response to a positive identification of an individual allowed to use the parking space. The parking controller can identify the individual through, e.g., a RFID tag, a mobile device (e.g., a remote control, smartphone, tablet, etc.), an access card, biometric information, or other appropriate identifier.

It is important for these systems to have reliable communication between a server and barrier units and to and from barrier units and a base station. This is not always possible in underground or other parking lots.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an access control method and access control system of the type described above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided an access control method comprising the steps of: communicating pre-determined access data from a server to a barrier unit via Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol such as LoRaWAN®; communicating identification data from a mobile device via a second communication channel to the barrier unit; authenticating the identification data against the access data at the barrier unit; and allowing access to an area when the identification data is authenticated by displacing part of the barrier unit.

The mobile device may be a mobile telephone, a Radio Frequency Identification tag (RFID) or any other appropriate portable communication device.

The second communication channel may be a short-range wireless connection standard, such as Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, Radio Frequency (RF) or near field communication alternatively, longer range communication standards, such as low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) including Long Range (LoRaWAN), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) etc.

The identification data may be pre-loaded onto the server by a user. For example, a user may pre-book a specific parking spot or pre-pay for any available parking spot. This booking may be for a specific time, a limited or specific period or specified separate time periods such as weekdays or weekends. The identification data may be used to grant access to a specific parking lot, or other areas with restricted or limited access such as handicap parking spots or VIP parking lots.

The invention extends to an access control method comprising the steps of: communicating identification data from a mobile device to a barrier unit; authenticating the identification data against pre-loaded access data at the barrier unit or at a remote server; allowing access to a vehicle into an area such as a parking bay, a restricted area or a restricted laane by displacing part of the barrier unit, such as a bollard, to an open position; recognising when the vehicle has completely passed the barrier unit; and displacing part of the barrier unit, such as a bollard, to a shut position.

The invention extends to an access control system which comprises a barrier unit having a base, a bollard which is movable between a first, unobstructive position and a second obstructive position in which it obstructs movement of a vehicle and a means for allowing displacement of the bollard from the first position to the second position, the bollard further includes a communications means to receive identification data from a mobile device to authenticate the identification data with access data received or receivable over LoRaWAN.

The bollard is pivotally connected to the base by means of a hinge and may be displaced between the first and second positions by means of a motor. In the unobstructive position, the barrier post is received into a complementary cavity in the base, allowing for an upper surface of the bollard to lie flush with an upper surface of the base. In the preferred embodiment the bollard has a length which is substantially less than the length of the base, however the invention is not limited in this regard.

The barrier unit includes a display means which assists in the visibility of the bollard but may also be used for informational, promotional or advertising purposes. The display means may be illuminated by a backlight, in order to increase visibility.

The display means may be illuminated to show various colour to indicate specific properties of the parking spot, such as, red for unavailable, green for available, gold for VIP parking etc.

These and other features of the invention are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention is described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an access control method; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a vehicle in a parking area and entering a parking bay which makes use of the access control method;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a barrier unit with a bollard thereof in an unobstructive position;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the barrier unit with the bollard in an obstructive position;

Figure 5 shows a front view of the bollard and a display means of the bollard;

Figure 6 shows a side view of the bollard of Figure 5;

Figure 7 shows an exploded view of the bollard of Figures 3 to 6;

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of drive means to drive the bollard between its unobstructive and obstructive positions; and

Figure 9 shows a similar perspective view of Figure 8 but with the bollard shown in broken lines to expose a spring loaded biassing means. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the drawings an access control method is generally indicted by reference numeral 1 .

A first step of the access control method 1 is to communicate access data 2 from a server 3 to a barrier unit 4, via Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol such as LoRaWAN® 5. The access data is received from a user as is described below. The access data is thus provided by the user and used by the system.

Identification data 6 is communicated from a mobile device 7, via a second communication channel 8 to the barrier unit 4.

The identification data 6 is authenticated against the access data 2 by a computing means in the barrier unit 4. The barrier unit 4 allows access to an area, such as a parking bay 10, when the identification data 6 is authenticated by moving a bollard 1 1 from its obstructive position to its unobstructive position.

Figures 2.1 to 2.4 shows a parking bay 10, having a barrier unit 4 with its bollard 1 1 in an obstructive position, prohibiting access of the vehicle 12 into the parking bay 10.

A mobile device 7 associated with the vehicle 12 will send identification data 6 via any appropriate communication method 8 such as Bluetooth® or NFC to the barrier unit 4. If the identification data 6 is authenticated by the barrier unit 4, the bollard 11 is displaced to an unobstructive position to allow for access to the parking bay 10. The barrier unit 4 senses that the vehicle 12 passes over and when the vehicle 12 is completely inside the parking bay 10 the bollard 11 is displaced back to an obstructive position.

Figure 2.4 shows a perspective view of a parking area. Multiple parking bays 10a, 10b, 10c each contains a barrier unit 4a, 4b, 4c at an entrance thereof. Barrier units 4a and 4b have their bollards in the obstructive position whereas the bollard of barrier unit 4c is in an obstructive position to prevent the vehicle 12 from exiting the parking bay 10a.

Figure 3 shows the barrier unit 4 in the unobstructive position with an upper surface of bollard 1 1 lying flush with an upper surface 13 of a base 14 of the barrier unit 4. In the obstructive position, the bollard 11 is in a substantially upright position and therefore impedes movement of a vehicle over the barrier unit 4 (figure 4).

The bollard 1 1 is thus made from a material which is robust enough to, when in the obstructive position, the bollard 1 1 will at least hinder movement of a vehicle into or out of the parking bay 10.

Each bollard 1 1 may include a display means 15 as shown in figures 5 and 6.

The display units assist in the visibility of the bollards 1 1 . However, this display means 15 may include a screen 16 which can be used to display advertisements or other information.

Figure 7 shows the display means 15 which makes use of a light source 17 to improve visibility of the bollard 11 as well as any information displayed on the screens 16a and 16b. Reflective strips 18 may be used to increase visibility of the bollard 11 when in the obstructive position.

A lower end of the bollard 11 is hingedly attached to the base 14 of the barrier unit 4 by means of an axle 19. Movement of the bollard 11 between the unobstructive position and the obstructive position is accomplished by means of an electric motor 20. The motor 20 causes the bollard 1 1 to rotate about an axes between its obstructive an unobstructive positions. Movement of the bollard 1 1 from the unobstructive to the obstructive position maybe assisted by making use of a spring-loaded biasing means 21 (figure 9).

The base 14 may be built into the surface of the parking bay 10. However, for existing parking lots, the base 14 of the unit 4 may be retrofitted by any appropriate means such as bolts or adhesive onto the surface of the parking bay 10.

In use, a user will load predetermined access data 2 into a server 3 by making a booking or reservation or pre-payment with regards to a specific parking bay 10. In this manner the user reserves a parking bay 10 for a specific date and/or time duration. This may be done from any appropriate device 25 with an internet connection. However, it should be appreciated that a user may load the appropriate access data 5 at the server 3 itself or that an agent may act on behalf of any user to load the appropriate access data 5 to or at a server 3.

Part of the access data 5 will include data which needs to be authenticated against the identification data 6 associated with a specific device 7. The device 7 need not be the same device as the device 25 which was made to load the access data 5 to the server 3.

When the device 7 comes into close enough proximity to the barrier unit 4, identification data 6 is sent via a short-range communication channel 8 such as Bluetooth® to the barrier unit 4. The identification data 6 is tested against the access data 5 and if authenticated a bollard 1 1 which is obstructing entry to an area such as a parking bay 10, is displaced to an unobstructive position to allow for a vehicle 27 to move freely over the barrier unit 4 into or out of the parking bay 10.

It is envisaged that the system and method described herein will be convenient to use to book a parking bay. A parking bay can be booked in advance or instantaneously, as may be required. Most importantly, the barrier units which control access to a parking bay with the bollards are in reliable communication with a base station or server computer at or near a parking lot. The use of a LoRa-type communication system has proved to be critical in this regard. On the other hand, access to parking bays is allowed when a user device, such as a mobile phone, comes in close proximity to the barrier unit and thus the parking bay that was booked previously by the user. Identification data is then transmitted via Bluetooth® or other short-range communication protocol to the barrier unit to compare the data with access data previously received via the LoRa-type communication protocol to allow or deny access.

The invention is not limited to the precise details as described above. For example, the barrier unit 4 may continuously interrogate any Bluetooth® signals which may pass in close enough proximity and relay any identification data received to a server 3 where the server 3 may then perform the authentication of such data. The result of the processing is then communicated back to the barrier unit for the barrier unit to allow or deny access. Processing of the data need not happen locally at the barrier unit 4.

It is appreciated that the bollard 1 1 may be in the form of any obstructive object or structure such as a temporary barricade, boom gate or a door which blocks access of a motor vehicle. The bollard may be configured to rise in a substantially vertically direction out of the ground and make use of hydraulics or any electro mechanical system into the obstructive position or correspondingly sink into the ground into the unobstructive position.

The barrier unit 4 may be placed wherever access of a vehicle needs to be controlled such as a parking lot, disabled parking spot, or access-controlled area wherever access of a vehicle needs to be controlled such as a parking lot, disabled parking spot, or access-controlled area. It is not limited to only be placed in front of a conventional parking bay 10. The barrier unit 4 does not need to have an electric motor 20 to displace the bollard 1 1 between the unobstructive position and the obstructive position. The barrier unit may simply unlock movement of the bollard 1 1 to allow for a user or anyone else so displace the bollard 11 to the desired position.

Tamper or collision sensors may be incorporated communicate data relating to unauthorised access to a server 3 which may be used to alert security or other personnel about the incident.

Cameras or similar scanning devices may be added to the unit 4 to scan and recognise number plates or other data unique to a vehicle to authenticate identification data.