TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a vehicle detector used in a parking lot, and in particular, to a vehicle detector of an open-air parking lot. With the vehicle detector, whether a vehicle is parked on the parking space of the parking lot can be monitored.

BACKGROUND

In a parking system, a vehicle detector may be used to detect whether a vehicle is parked on a parking space. In a non-open-air garage, such as an underground garage, a vehicle detection apparatus may be installed above the parking space using a wired device, such as an electric wire. However, in an open-air garage, it is proper to install the vehicle detection apparatus under the parking space. To save cost, a vehicle detection apparatus used in a wireless parking system is equipped with no power supply line or communication line. Generally, power supply is implemented by a battery arranged in the vehicle detector, and communication is implemented by a radio frequency module (RF module). However, when electric quantity of the battery runs out, it is necessary to dig out the battery and replace the battery. To prolong the service life of the battery, a high-capacity battery is generally used, or a low-power operating cycle is used to lower energy consumption, which however may cause a prolonged reaction time. SUMMARY

To solve the foregoing one or more problems, the present invention is to provide a vehicle detector. The vehicle detector is buried under the ground of a parking space, and the vehicle detector includes a housing. What are arranged in the housing are: a detection module, which is used for detecting whether a vehicle is parked on the parking space; a communication module, which transmits a signal, sent by the detection module, to a server; and a power module, which includes a power acquiring unit and a power storing unit. The power acquiring unit includes a first plate and a second plate, and the first plate and the second plate are made of thermoelectric materials. The first plate is arranged on an upper surface of the housing and the second plate is arranged on a lower surface of the housing. The power acquiring unit further includes a power acquiring circuit which obtains voltage generated by the first plate and the second plate according to the thermoelectric effect and stores the voltage in the power storing unit. According to the embodiments of the present invention, a vehicle detection apparatus beneficially uses the thermoelectric effect and obtains electric energy according to a temperature difference, which thereby solves the problem when energy of a battery runs out. After being buried underground, this kind of vehicle detection apparatus can use the thermoelectric effect to provide electric energy, instead of digging the battery out for replacing, thereby saving manpower and maintenance cost.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the first plate and the upper surface of the housing are integrated.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the second plate and the lower surface of the housing are integrated. Therefore, the vehicle detection apparatus may be simply and integrally manufactured.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the power storing unit includes a power storing circuit. The power storing unit can use the power storing circuit to store, in the power storing unit, electric energy generated according to the thermoelectric effect. Therefore, even though the temperature difference is small when it is cloudy or rainy, the power can be extracted by using the power storing unit.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the power storing circuit is a super capacitor, and the super capacitor can implement larger power storage.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the detection module includes an electromagnetic sensor. An advantage for using the electromagnetic sensor is that, with a magnetic field given out by the electromagnetic sensor, it may be determined according to a change of the magnetic field whether a vehicle enters when the vehicle enters a range of the magnetic field. Therefore, a single detector can be used to implement detection in a larger area. Of course other kinds of sensors could also be used to detect the vehicle, such as pressure sensors.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the communication module is a radio frequency module (RF module) which transmits the signal to the server by using a repeater.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle detector is further provided with an emergency battery, which may be used to provide a backup power supply when in a long-term bad weather, sufficient electric energy cannot be obtained according to the thermoelectric effect.

According to a favorable embodiment of the present invention, the housing of the vehicle detector is sealed against the fluids. Therefore, components in the housing are prevented from being damaged by moisture in soil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings given below are for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle detector buried underground;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless vehicle detection system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle detector according to the prior art;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle detector according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle detector buried underground according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To understand the technical features, objectives and effects of the present invention more clearly, the specific embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless vehicle detector buried underground. Especially in an open-air parking lot, an assembled vehicle detector 100 could be buried under ground 300 of a parking space. As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless vehicle detector 100 buried underground is powered by an internal power supply apparatus of the wireless vehicle detector 100. After a detection module of the wireless vehicle detector 100 detects that a vehicle is parked on the parking space, a communication module sends a signal to a server 102 by means of a repeater 101. The server 102 could be located in a monitoring room of the parking lot, and therefore, managerial personnel of the parking lot can obtain usages of parking spaces of the parking lot at any time. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a vehicle detector 100 according to the prior art. The vehicle detector 100 has a housing 10. The vehicle detector 100 includes a detection module 1, a communication module 2, and a power module 3. The power module 3 includes a battery 31, which supplies power to the communication module 2 and the detection module 1. The detection module 1 may be an electromagnetic induction module. The detection module 1 generates a magnetic field. After the vehicle enters the parking space, it causes changes of the magnetic field produced by the detection module 1. Based on the detected change of the magnetic field, the detection module 1 determines whether a vehicle is parked in the parking space, and sends out the information to a server 102 by the communication module 2 via a repeater 101. When the electric quantity of the battery 31 runs out, the vehicle detector 100 must be dug out from the underground to replace or to charge the battery.

FIG. 4 shows a vehicle detector 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle detector 200 includes a detection module 1, a communication module 2, and a power module 3. The power module 3 supplies power to the communication module 2 and the detection module 1. The detection module 1 may also be an electromagnetic induction module. When being powered on, an electromagnetic induction apparatus of the detection module 1 generates a magnetic field. When a vehicle enters a parking space, it causes changes of the magnetic field given out by the detection module 1. Based on the detected change of the magnetic field, the detection module 1 determines whether the vehicle is parked in the parking space, and sends the information to a server 102 by the communication module 2 via a repeater 101. The server 102 which may be a computer, could be arranged in a monitoring room of a parking lot. An actual situation whether the parking lot is occupied may be displayed in a display apparatus after software processing, to personnel.

In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the power module 3 includes a power acquiring unit 32 and power storing unit 31. It can be seen with reference to FIG. 5 that, the vehicle detector 200 also has a housing 20. The detection module 1, the communication module 2 and the power module 3 are arranged in the housing 20. The power acquiring unit 32 of the vehicle detector 200 further includes a first plate 321 and a second plate 322 which are made of thermoelectric materials. As for the thermoelectric materials, materials which are usually used by persons skilled in the art and suitable for generating the thermoelectric effect are used, for example, Bi ₂ Te ₃ , PbTe, SiGe, and the like. The first plate 321 and the second plate 322 may be made of same thermoelectric materials, and may also use different thermoelectric materials. According to the power acquiring unit 32 of the present invention, electric energy is obtained according to the thermoelectric effect.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the first plate 321 made of the thermoelectric materials is arranged on an upper surface of the housing 20 of the vehicle detector 200, for example, on the top surface of a covering piece of the housing. The second plate 322 made of the thermoelectric materials is oppositely arranged on a lower surface or bottom surface of the housing 20 of the vehicle detector 200. When the vehicle detector 200 is installed in the right place, for example, after the vehicle detector 200 is buried under ground of a parking space, the first plate 321 on the upper surface of the detector 200 is closer to the ground, and the second plate 322 on the lower surface of the detector 200 is far away from the ground. The ground surface temperature rises when the ground is exposed to the sunshine, and temperature of the first plate 321 may be higher than temperature of the second plate 322. Otherwise, when the it is extreamly cold, especially in the night, the ground temperature could drop faster, which result I that the temperature of the first plate 321 may be lower than temperature of the second plate 322. According to the thermoelectric effect, voltage may be generated between the first plate 321 and the second plate 322 where a temperature difference exists. Therefore, electric energy generated according to the thermoelectric effect may be used to supply power to the detection module 1 and the communication module 2.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a power acquiring unit 32 further includes a power acquiring circuit, and the power acquiring circuit can amplify voltage generated according to the thermoelectric effect so that the voltage can be used by the detection module 1 and the communication module 2. In this embodiment, the power module 3 may further be provided with a power storing unit 31. The power acquiring circuit of the power acquiring unit 32 stores the obtained electric energy in the power storing unit 31. The power storing unit 31 includes a power storing circuit, and the power storing circuit may be constructed as a super capacitor. In this case, even though it is cloudy or rainy or in the night, energy may be supplied to the detector 200 by using the electric energy stored in the power storing module 31.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention which is not shown, the power acquiring unit 32 is further provided with an emergency power supply which is, for example, a normal battery, which may be used to provide a backup power supply when in a long-term bad weather, sufficient electric energy cannot be obtained according to the thermoelectric effect.

The housing 20 of the vehicle detector 200 may be formed by a main body and a covering body. After being assembled, the main body and the covering body are sealed against fluids. Therefore, components in the housing 20 are prevented from being damaged by moisture in soil. The first plate 321 may be preferably integrated with the top of the covering body or the upper surface. Or, the upper surface of the housing 20 is made of thermoelectric materials, and is connected to the power acquiring circuit. Similarly, the second plate 322 may be preferably integrated with the lower surface of the housing 20, or specifically integrate with the bottom surface of the main body. Or, the lower surface of the housing 20 is made of the thermoelectric materials, and is connected to the power acquiring circuit. According to the embodiments of the present invention, a vehicle detection apparatus beneficially obtains electric energy according to the temperature difference by using the thermoelectric effect. Therefore, the problem that a battery runs out does not exist. After being buried underground, the vehicle detection apparatus does not need to be dug out for changing, which thereby saves manpower and maintenance cost. It should be understood that, even though the specifications is described according to the embodiments, each embodiment does not only includes one independent technical solution. This kind describing manner is only for the purpose of clarity. Persons in the prior art should take the specifications as an integral part, and technical solutions in the embodiments may also be properly combined to form other implementation manners which can be understood by persons in the prior art.

The foregoing are just exemplary specific implementation manners of the present invention, which are not intend to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent change, modification, and combination made by persons in the prior art without departing from the spirit and principle of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.