US 11,875,679 B2
Vehicle presence detection system
Donald H. Sandbrook, Palmerston North (NZ)
Assigned to Frogparking Limited, Palmerston North (NZ)
Filed by Frogparking Limited, Palmerston North (NZ)
Filed on Mar. 13, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/182,777.
Application 18/182,777 is a continuation of application No. 17/953,910, filed on Sep. 27, 2022, granted, now 11,610,487.
Application 17/953,910 is a continuation of application No. 17/493,054, filed on Oct. 4, 2021, granted, now 11,462,108, issued on Oct. 4, 2022.
Application 17/493,054 is a continuation of application No. 16/994,834, filed on Aug. 17, 2020, granted, now 11,138,881, issued on Oct. 5, 2021.
Application 16/994,834 is a continuation of application No. 16/715,174, filed on Dec. 16, 2019, granted, now 10,748,424, issued on Aug. 18, 2020.
Application 16/715,174 is a continuation of application No. 16/531,917, filed on Aug. 5, 2019, granted, now 10,510,250, issued on Dec. 17, 2019.
Application 16/531,917 is a continuation of application No. 16/143,574, filed on Sep. 27, 2018, granted, now 10,373,493, issued on Aug. 6, 2019.
Application 16/143,574 is a continuation of application No. 16/017,273, filed on Jun. 25, 2018, granted, now 10,096,247, issued on Oct. 9, 2018.
Application 16/017,273 is a continuation of application No. 15/609,453, filed on May 31, 2017, granted, now 10,008,116, issued on Jun. 26, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0222911 A1, Jul. 13, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G08G 1/14 (2006.01); G08G 1/04 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 1/142 (2013.01) [G08G 1/04 (2013.01); G08G 1/143 (2013.01); G08G 1/144 (2013.01); G08G 1/146 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle presence detection system, comprising:
a light emitter configured to emit a light toward a parking spot;
a light sensor configured to receive a reflection of the light emitted by the light emitter; and
a processing unit configured to:
use the light sensor to determine a measured distance that correlates to a distance travelled by the reflection of the light;
store a baseline vacant distance, wherein the baseline vacant distance corresponds to the distance between the light sensor and a location corresponding to the parking spot when the parking spot is vacant; and
determine whether the parking spot is vacant or occupied based on the measured distance.