Patents Represented by Attorney Edwina T. Washington
  • Patent number: 6081206
    Abstract: A video camera mounted on a parking enforcement patrol vehicle and connected to a computer near the operator. The system is driven along a patrol route where parked vehicles are governed by a posted time limit. The system enforces the local parking regulation by automatically determining whether or not each parked car has been parked longer than the posted time limit. Violations are detected by applying a License Plate Recognition algorithm to the images. Each license plate number is time-tagged, geo-referenced and entered into a local database. When the patrol vehicle re-traces the patrol route after the posted parking time limit has expired, the database is searched to flag vehicles that were observed at the same location during the previous circuit and therefore in violation of the parking regulations. When the system detects a parking violation, it prints a parking citation that the operator affixes to the offending parked vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2000
    Assignee: Visionary Technology Inc.
    Inventor: Peter J. Kielland