Abstract: An electronic security system for a parking meter includes a vault door having a spring-biased contact terminal for making breakable electrical contact with a housing hinge bracket contact terminal mounted in a vault opening. An electronic lock control circuit is able to communicate with a meter control (coin counting/auditing) circuit in the meter portion of the system through the vault door/housing hinge bracket contact terminals, thus eliminating a direct cable connection between the lock circuit and the meter circuit. The spring-biased contact may be substituted by equivalent breakable electrical contacts such as optocoupler contacts.

Abstract: A wireless drive-by meter status system for use by parking enforcement officers who are patrolling a zone or area in a motorized vehicle is described. The system comprises a vehicle in which is placed a mobile unit including a transceiver, an antenna as well as a status display means, and one or more remote units including transceivers each paired with one or more electronic meters. The remote units may be mounted inside the meter housings, which in turn are mounted on posts. In operation the vehicle antenna transmits a wake-up or trigger signal using a focused beam of modulated IR, ultrasonic or RF energy, which can be detected by any remote units found in the beam path.

Abstract: A dual processor electronic parking meter (EPM) accepts a plurality of ISO compliant smart cards and authorizes payment of purchased time. The EPM of the invention is equipped with a card reader module (CRM) which accepts/validates transactions effected on smart cards, and also accepts a interface card for connection to a data terminal for revenue collection, meter configuration and meter firmware maintenance. The EPM includes a multi-lingual, intelligent, mixed-mode graphics and icon based display with greater visibility. When the EPM is idle, various sections of the meter are in a sleep mode for prolonging the life of the batteries. The EPM wakes up whenever a card is in the CRM, a coin is inserted, or a key for selecting the parking time and the type of operation is actuated. The EPM is easy to use by both the parking time purchaser and the money collector.

Abstract: A method for identifying metallic coins and tokens, comprising: applying an input signal to an ac-bridge; bringing a coin/token in the vicinity of one arm of the ac-bridge; sensing an output signal of the ac-bridge; and associating the output signal with presence of the coin/token in the vicinity of the arm of the ac-bridge.