Technical Field

The invention is related to a new generation announcement system and a method related to the system which enables sending of an automatic or manual warning to the drivers of vehicles under the risk of being issued a parking ticket or being towed before such an action is initiated.

Prior Art

When vehicles are parked at prohibited points, the current process before issuing a ticket and towing the vehicle is as follows;

1 . The police ask the drivers to move their vehicles from the point in which they are parked with a loudspeaker announcement system. The officer takes the first tour and initiates the procedure to tow the vehicle during the second tour. Whether or not these announcements are made and one tour is taken depends on the initiative of the officer in the tow truck or in the police car. The vocal announcements cannot be heard by most vehicle owners. The reasons for the drivers to not hear vocal announcements are as follows:

a. Reflection of sound signals from the buildings,

b. Absorption of sound signals by objects in the environment (trees, buildings, vehicles etc.),

c. Suppression of the announcement sound by other sounds in the environment,

d. The sound not being able to reach a large enough area clearly due to the limitation on increasing the sound level over a certain decibel in the city, e. Particularly the residents of houses and workplaces in city centers being disturbed from continuous vocal announcements on dense routes, and due to their complaints, vocal announcements are not even made most of the time. 2. Before issuing a parking ticket for the vehicles by the police, if the owner of the vehicle is not near his/her car a ticket is issued directly without notice and warning.

3. Approximately 200,000 vehicles are towed by towers every year in Istanbul. The fuel spent by towers and the carbon dioxide (C0 ₂ ) emitted into the atmosphere while towing the car is at a serious level.

4. When the drivers reach the point where they have parked their cars, they usually cannot find their vehicles and may call the traffic police in case their cars have been stolen, thus unnecessarily occupying the telephone line.

5. When the drivers find out that their vehicles have been towed from people around, they need to spend extra time and effort to figure out where they have been towed to.

6. When the vehicles are towed to the related parking lots by the tow truck, after an unspecified amount of time the driver can be informed by the parking lot officer if the license plate number and where the vehicle has been towed from are entered into a computer (the record system of towed cards).This record system, under the initiative of the person at the parking lot for most of the time requires manual procedures and therefore it fails to assist the drivers in figuring out where their vehicles are towed to.

7. The computer system recording vehicle information is not used in many parking lots.

8. If the person whose car is towed can find a taxi, he/she has to go to the parking lot by a taxi or public transportation where the vehicle is towed and has to pay extra road and taxi fare. The person may have to walk if he/she cannot find a vehicle or if he/she does not have any cash.

9. The vehicles may get physically damaged.

10. The daily work schedule of the driver, whose car is towed, is sidetracked for 2 to 3 hours in addition to the stress he/she experiences.

1 1. Identifying the license plates of the parked vehicles visually and/or through license plate scanning systems is technically not possible. The license plates of the vehicles which park one after the other or side by side cannot even directly be identified visually due to physical obstacles, and therefore cannot be scanned by cameras either.

12. Certain corporations have GNSS devices which use global positioning technology or vehicle tracking technology installed on their vehicles.

a. Vehicle tracking systems are generally used by corporations as required by certain protocols and conventions. It is not a system that can easily be purchased and installed on vehicles by citizens. b. Because the vehicle tracking devices are powered by the battery of the vehicle, the difficulty of technical installation occurs as they are required to be connected to the vehicle’s battery with cables.

c. On some vehicle tracking systems, after the vehicle is towed, although the information of any changes in the position of the vehicle can be monitored through a satellite, the system can understand it only after the vehicle is towed. d. For the vehicle tracking devices to operate, each device must be installed with a GSM SIM card. An extra fee is required to be paid to the companies which offer this service.

e. Complex and expensive technical structures such as GPS (Global Positioning System) and GSM modules are used in the wireless detection device of our invention, which is to be used for the vehicles under the risk of getting towed.

f. Vehicles with a GNSS and GPS vehicle tracking system cannot detect the tow truck which passes near the vehicle. Sending a prewarning to vehicle drivers by the officer to issue a parking ticket is technically not possible.

13. In these existing systems, the driver cannot be informed before the car is towed, but only after the car is towed.

Application numbered US20121 16661 A1 relates to a system which can communicate via vehicles’ license plates and rather considered for social communication. On this system, which enables the vehicle drivers to communicate with each other, individuals can manually enter the license plate of the vehicle they want to contact, and communicate with them. In order to communicate, the vehicles’ license plates are required to be entered into the system by users. Although the document content indicates that license plate scanning systems through cameras can be integrated; this system fails to work if the vehicles are parked one after the other in a manner which blocks the license plates as the system depends on visual recognition technology. Even if a configuration of such a system for an early warning system is created, it will not be able to surpass the known state of the technique as it will require being realized via the license plate.

Vehicle drivers, who cannot be sure whether the point where they park is convenient, ask the people around or leave their phone numbers for the tow truck and officer to contact them. The officers do not bother to contact such individuals due to their job descriptions and workload. As the telephone numbers left on the cars and other similar methods require the officer to go to the vehicle and do extra work, it causes loss of time and extra workload for the officers. Therefore, this method fails most of the time.

As a result, as also mentioned above, due to negative aspects such as

• the driver’s inability to hear the vocal announce of the police,

• The drivers finding out that their vehicle is towed only after it is towed,

• Vehicle tracking devices or GNSS systems requiring high-cost, cabling and complex installations, not being able to identify the tow truck while it passes,

• the officer issuing a ticket or towing the vehicle with vehicle tracking devices or GNSS systems being unable to send a warning to the driver,

• requirement of a manual action or license plate - barcode scanning,

• Physical or technical failure to scan the license plates of the cars parked one after the other or in a manner blocking each others’ licenses

and inadequacy of the existing solutions described so far a further development in the technical is necessary.

Purpose of the Invention

The invention was developed with inspiration from existing circumstances and it intends to resolve the aforementioned negative aspects.

The main objective of the invention is to send an automatic warning before an action is taken to the vehicles under the risk of getting towed or traffic ticketed. As a result, both physical and material safety will be improved. The system can automatically send a notification message to the driver before a traffic ticket is issued and the car is towed, without requiring any manual action, license plate or barcode scanning.

One of the most important benefits of our invention is that it has an automatic warning system. The main objective of traffic police and tow trucks is not to issue tickets but to establish an order in the traffic. Before issuing a ticket to individuals, a warning message can be sent to the driver automatically, easily and safely by the police, tow truck or the authorized personnel. In the system which is the subject of the invention;

• A small, wireless broadcasting, radio frequency technology-equipped wireless detection device which can easily be obtained and mounted anywhere in the vehicle by the driver, without requiring any connections or installations.

• The radio frequency reader in the tow trucks, roadside traffic sign, traffic lights or the telephones and tables of officers can automatically identify the wireless detection device in the vehicles under the risk of getting towed or ticketed without requiring an extra action. As radio frequency technology is used, there is no need for any visual contact between the radio frequency detection device in the car and the telephone, tablet or radio frequency reader of the tow truck or officer. As a result, contrary to camera systems, the necessity of visual contact between the tow truck and the vehicle under the risk of getting towed is eliminated.

• Before initiating the action of towing or issuing a ticket to the vehicles, warning messages such as notifications will automatically be sent by the system to the registered telephones of the drivers on the system by SMS, voice call or smart phone application. With these methods, the drivers will get a prewarning to move their vehicles or to get to their vehicles.

• SMS, voice call or warning submission to the vehicle list on the officer’s screen may automatically or manually be realized.

• Digital announcement and early warning will be sent by mobile phones to the points which cannot be reached by vocal announce from the tow truck, police vehicle, local authority and similar elements. As a result, the drivers can avoid tickets, and eliminate the risk of their vehicles getting towed, by being informed beforehand.

• Tow trucks’ carbon emission amount and fuel spending may decrease.

• Complicated and expensive technical structures such as GPS (Global Positioning System) and GSM modules are not used in the invented wireless detection device, to be used for the vehicles under the risk of getting towed.

The invention, based on the realization of smart city principle, is an innovative system which benefits all stakeholders (local administrations, police, drivers, those experiencing problems in the traffic due to inappropriate parking); and can be used in industry. The invention will cover the radio frequency technologies and protocols such as Bluetooth, Beacon, ibeacon, Eddystone which can transfer data wirelessly. iOS, Android, Windows etc. operating systems will enable the uploaded devices to communicate with the Bluetooth devices around them and react according to the data obtained from those devices. Bluetooth technology basically enables mobile devices to realize their position in a small area and provide contextual content flow to the users according to their location. This is defined as BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy).

Bluetooth 4.0 is the current version of the wireless communication technology available on smart phones, tablets and many electronic devices. The updated 4.0 version offers significant power saving with the low pulse method without requiring a continuous flow of information, thanks to the improvements it has brought. Our system is also expected to support the new versions of 4.0 and Bluetooth 5.0 technology and its future releases.

Bluetooth 4.0 is particularly notable with its energy saving. With new technology, new generation information gives less importance to continuous flow protection and instead, it focuses on sending small data bits when needed. In BLE technology, data can be sent without connecting to Bluetooth devices. The sent data only transmits a certain ID instead of large content, and the safety of the sent data is ensured. As a result, since excessive power is not spent for sending data, in addition to the longer battery lifetime the data can be transmitted to long distances.

In our invention, a certain period of time may be allotted to the vehicle owners. During this period, the owners can go to their cars and move them before they are towed. The cars may get towed unless they are moved within the optional time allotted.

If requested by local administrations, the system can also be used as a warning system before a ticket is issued, thus a prewarning can be given to the driver digitally with a message before a ticket is issued, such as speed limit warning message or expired parking deadline message.

In the method which is the subject of the invention;

• a wireless detection device is recorded with the owner’s communication details to the data server, and it is located in the car, • a controller identifies the signals emitted by the wireless detection device on the parked vehicle by means of a reader,

• the reader informs the data server of the detected wireless detection devices,

• information of the wireless detection device detected by the reader are evaluated by the data server according to the ticket and towing conditions determined by local administrations/authorities,

• a warning message/notification is sent to the mobile device defined on the data server of the driver of the vehicle in which the detected wireless detection device is located,

• adding the vehicles of the notified individuals on the waiting list,

❖ if they are moved by the driver in the allocated time, a ticket will not be issued and/or the vehicle will not be towed.

❖ unless the driver moves the vehicle in the allotted time, a ticket will be issued and/or the vehicle will be towed, and the name and address of the place where the vehicle is towed is sent to the owner of the vehicle.

The structure and characteristics of the invention and its all advantages will be more clearly understood with reference to the following figures, and therefore, the invention must be understood by taking into consideration the attached figures together with the following detailed description.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows general view of the vehicle, tow truck and parking ticket warning system.

The drawings are not necessarily scaled and the details that are not essential for understanding the present invention may have been omitted. Apart from that, the elements which are at least substantially identical or have at least substantially identical functions are shown with the same reference number.

Part References

1 . Wireless detection device 2. Reader

3. Controller

4. Vehicle

5. Data server

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description of the invention, preferred embodiments of the invention are detailed herein only to facilitate understanding the invention and without having any restrictive effect.

The invention relates to a system which enables sending a notification to the vehicles (4) under risk of getting towed and/or ticketed by controllers (3) due to inappropriate parking, and a method for the system.

The wireless detection device (1 ) located in the vehicle (4) broadcasts defining self specific wireless data. The wireless detection device (1 ) with an active or passive, preferably Beacon or Bluetooth device, broadcasts RF signal. The reader (2) possessed by the controllers (3) such as tow truck, tow truck’s driver, officer’s vehicle, officer, and the police having access to the data server (5) on which the telephone and contact details of vehicle (4) owners are stored, obtain information of the vehicles (4) and vehicle (4) owners matched with the wireless detection devices (1 ) from the data server (5).

The data server (5) besides being the central unit of the system, detects with which ways (SMS, voice call, reminder, application warning message etc.) and how frequently the warning messages will be delivered to the vehicle (4) owners and reports what is desired. The authorized individuals, having access to the data server (5) with their electronic devices, can obtain past reports. The readers (2) used for reading the wireless detection devices (1 ) by the controllers (3) send warning/information messages to the mobile devices of vehicle (4) owners via the data server (5). In order to scan with the reader (2), there is not an obligation of going near to the vehicle (4) in which the wireless detection device (1 ) with low energy consumption technology is located. The reader (2) is a device such as a telephone/mobile device, computer, tablet computer or RF scanner in which the required application is uploaded and/or through which the system’s web interface can be accessed.

Individuals desiring to use the system obtain the wireless detection device (1 ), start using it by entering their information to the data server (5). Then, the wireless detection device (1 ) is positioned in somewhere in the vehicle (4).

When the controller (3) passes near the vehicle (4), the reader (2) on which the application is present and/or which can access the system’s web interface, detects the signals emitted by the wireless detection device (1 ) on the vehicles (4), and sends a warning message to the mobile devices of the vehicle (4) owners registered on the data server (5). At the same time, the list of the vehicles to which notifications are sent appears on the reader (2) screen of the controller (3).The vehicles which should not be ticketed and/or towed are listed on the reader (2).

In addition, extra time may be allotted to the vehicle (4) owner; the data server (5) begins to count down from the predetermined time; the controller (3) does not tow or ticket the vehicle (4) as long as the countdown continues. At the moment the extra period ends, the vehicle is deleted from the list of vehicles (4) with allotted time on the reader (2).

The allotting of extra time to the vehicle (4) owner may be realized with a charge to be collected from the vehicle owner. The action of paying a charge may be realized by credit card and it may also be realized by transfer/EFT and other payment methods.

In the event the controller (3) tows the vehicle (4) with a tow truck, the reader (2) on the controller (3) with evident position information by GPS, receives the vehicle’s predefined information with the signal level received by the wireless detection device (1 ) on the vehicle, and informs of the location and address where the vehicle (4) is towed to the owner of the vehicle (4) via the data server (5). Thanks to the application uploaded on the web interface and/or reader (2) accessed by the reader (2), and the entire communication between the reader (2) and the wireless detection device (1 ) is realized securely and encrypted.