CPC G07F 17/248 (2013.01) [G07F 5/00 (2013.01); G07F 7/088 (2013.01); G07F 7/0893 (2013.01); G07F 9/023 (2013.01); G07F 9/10 (2013.01); G07F 17/24 (2013.01); H04B 1/02 (2013.01); H04W 84/12 (2013.01)] | 35 Claims |
1. A parking meter comprising:
a removable assembly comprising:
a structure formed from at least one of plastic, co-polymers and resins, the structure comprising a plurality of releasable mounting point connections molded integrally with the structure;
one or more parking meter payment components comprising one or more of a card reader, contactless payment reader and a coin chute, each of the one or more of the parking meter payment components individually secured to one or more of the releasable mounting point connections of the structure by a toolless releasable connector;
a first external housing secured to the structure of the removable assembly and formed at least significantly of a high-strength housing material comprising at least one of:
high strength plastic;
high strength co-polymers; and
high-strength resins;
a second external housing secured at a parking location, the second external housing secured to the first external housing of the removable assembly in a first orientation to provide a unitary housing enclosing the parking meter payment components of the removable assembly to provide protection for the parking meter payment components against an external environment and vandalism attack, and wherein at least one of the first external housing and the second external housing is vertically slidable relative to each other into a second orientation in which the first external housing is attached to the second external housing, and the toolless releasable connector of the respective one or more releasable mounting point connections of the removable assembly are accessible to release the one or more parking meter components from the structure;
a saddle plate secured between a top of an existing coin vault at the parking location and a bottom of the second external housing, the saddle plate providing a transition
between a rectangular profile of the top of the existing coin vault and a circular profile of the bottom of the second external housing;
one or more reinforcing members secured to or that are part of at least one of the first external housing of the removable assembly and the second external housing secured at the parking location to strengthen at least a section of the unitary housing.
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