Automatic Fee Determining System For Parking Garages

Abstract

An automatic fee determining system is provided with a real time clock associated with a storage register for recording in encoded form the identification of a given 15-minute time interval of the day. A ticket issuer is positioned adjacent the entry lane of a parking facility to encode the entry time upon the ticket information from the real time storage register. The information is encoded by passing the ticket beneath continuously energized tone heads which place BCD codes on the tickets. Switching of the signal to the tone heads in response to the position of the tickets at the issuer provides for multiple digit encoding in longitudinally spaced relationship on the tickets. The tone heads are transversely movable and register with the edge of the card for proper alignment. A ticket reader reads a separate channel on the ticket to test its proper orientation and validity and then stores the information read from the ticket in an IN-time storage register. A third storage register stores the elapsed time and is differentially coupled to the real time storage register and the IN-time register loaded by the reader. Mechanical and electronic storage registers are alternatively provided. The differential comparator is similarly either a mechanical differential drive or an electronic comparator. The mechanical version includes an overdrive anti-slack feature. Fees are computed based on the elapsed time computed and stored in a fee register. The coded fee information operates either a recording cash register or an automatic cash-receiving pay station.

Description

The present invention relates to automatic fee computing systems particularly for use in parking facilities and the like.

It is conventional in the operation of parking facilities to issue to an entering motorist a record bearing information associated with the entry time. When the motorist leaves the facility, this time is compared with the real time of day and a fee is determined based on the elapsed time between the entry and the exit times. Commonly, this computation is done manually by an attendant who handles the cash transaction and permits the motorist to remove his vehicle from the parking area.

In some cases, it is desirable, particularly in the self-service parking lot parking facilities, to eliminate the need for an attendant. This requires an automated system for recording the information upon a record which is issued to the motorist and a reading of the recorded information automatically at an exit station when the motorist leaves the facility, and to thereafter automatically compute the elapsed time and automatically assign a fee based on this elapsed time. In this case, means must be provided to receive cash from the motorist or some other form of payment and, when the proper payment has been received, to automatically open a gate or perform a similar operation to allow the motorist to leave the facility.

Some systems of the prior art provide minute-by-minute computation of the time. This requires elaborate and expensive means for recording the time on an issued record, in reading the time from the record, and in computing the lapsed time on the minute-by-minute basis.

In other situations, it is desirable to retain the attendant, particularly in large parking facilities where his ability to handle a change-making operation can greatly expedite the transaction of business. It is, however, greatly desirable in such situations that accurate records be automatically maintained to insure that the proper fees have been collected and returned to the owner of the lot.

It is the principal objective of the present invention to provide an automated parking fee computation system having features which effectively and efficiently provide for either fully automatic parking facility operations or precise acounting and control information in an attended parking area.

Accordingly, the present invention is predicated in part upon the concept of dividing the time of day into a plurality of discrete time intervals, which intervals are sufficiently short to allow accurate computation of the elapsed time, but not so short as to require complete numerical computation capability to determine the elapsed time. The present invention is further predicated upon the concept of providing an elapsed time and fee computation device comprising at least three digital storage registers differentially linked together so that one register will contain information representative of the difference between the values stored in the other two. Specifically, one register is controlled by a real time clock and contains information relating to the identification of the current specific time interval of the day. The second register is controlled by a record reader so as to receive and store information relating to the time of a prior event at which the motorist, for example, entered the parking area. The third register, so linked with the other two, will contain information relating to the time interval difference between those values stored in the other two registers.

More particularly, the means for establishing the differential value in the third register is achieved by first setting the second register to the IN-time, as supplied by the record reader, and then by changing the value of the second register until the information contained therein corresponds to that of the first or real time register, to simultaneously make a corresponding change in the value of the third register, which change is representative of the number of elapsed time periods between, for example, entry and exit to and from a parking facility.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, solid state circuitry forms the registers and the means for computing and comparing differentially the values to establish the elapsed time. According to another embodiment of the invention, the registers are mechanical rotary switches linked together by a differential mechanical drive assembly.

The device of the present invention also includes an electronic fee computing device which assigns a fee based on the output of the elapsed time register, and also which communicates its value to a fourth fee register contained within an automatic pay station. Alternatively, the output of the fee determining circuit may operate a recording cash register for use by an attendant.

In a mechanical register embodiment of the present invention, an improvement is provided in the differential comparator drive whereby its output is overdriven so as to remove residual motion from the differential mechanism.

Also according to the present invention, tickets are encoded magnetically as they are being issued by the placement of stationary tone heads adjacent a ticket-feeding path and to energize these heads as the tickets are passed beneath them to encode the tickets in longitudinal strips, preferably with BCD representations of the time of day at which the ticket is issued. Plural elements of information are recorded by causing the data transmitted to the heads to be switched in response to the relative position of the issuing ticket with respect to the heads so as to encode upon the tickets different elements of data in longitudinally spaced relationship therealong. Registration of the tone heads with respect to the ticket is achieved by providing a transversely floating head provided with an edge detecting guide and biasing means for moving the head until the guide is in contact with the edge of the ticket. A separate channel is provided to one side of the ticket for detection by a reader at the exit lane. This channel is employed to determine the proper orientation of the ticket and also for determination of whether or not the ticket is validly encoded. The channel is so positioned that only one orientation of a validly coded ticket will result in proper detection of signal recorded on the channel. Improperly oriented or invalidly encoded tickets are rejected and returned to the customer.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the drawings illustrating the preferred forms of parking system embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a logic diagram of the ticket issuer of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the ticket issuer of the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4-6 are diagrammatic elevational views of a ticket being dispensed from the issuer of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the exit station of the station of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8-10 are diagrammatic elevational views of a ticket being inserted into the reader of the exit station of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a logic diagram of the circuit of the reader of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a logic and schematic diagram of one embodiment of the computation module portion of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a logic diagram of the comparator circuit portion of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the mechanical differential comparator of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 15--15 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 16--16 of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view take along line 17--17 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an encoded ticket for use with the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 19-23 are cross-sections taken along lines 19--19 through 23--23 respectively of FIG. 14;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of the elapsed time computation portion of the circuit of FIG. 12 in an alternative solid state form;

FIG. 25 is a logic diagram of a portion of the circuit of FIG. 24; and

FIG. 26 is a logic and schematic diagram of a portion of an alternative version of the system of FIG. 1 for use in an attended parking facility.

A parking system according to the present invention is illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 1. This system includes a ticket issuer 11, a ticket receiver and reader 12, a computation and logic module 13, and an exit gate control 14. Normally, the ticket issuer 11 and the ticket receiver and reader 12 are positioned at different locations within a parking area, with the issuer 11 adjacent an entrace lane or gate and the ticket receiver and reader 12 adjacent an exit lane and gate. Preferably, the computation module 13 is located at the exit gate with the ticket reader and, in the preferred embodiment, is housed integrally with the ticket reader 12.

The ticket issuer 11 includes a device which issues a ticket to a customer entering the parking area. This ticket is then coded with information representative of a time interval of the day during which the customer entered the parking area. The coded information is recorded on the ticket as it is issued, and this information is supplied to the ticket issuer 11 in coded form on a line or set of lines 17 from the computation module 13.

The ticket receiver 12 includes a ticket reader 21 which receives the ticket from the customer at the exit lane as he is leaving the parking area. The reader 21 reads the information encoded upon the ticket, which information is representative of the time at which the customer entered the lot, and transmits this information along a line or set of lines 22 to the computation module 13. If the customer has lost his ticket, he may depress a lost ticket button 23 on the reader panel which will transmit information indicating this fact along a line 24 to the computation module 13 to assign usually a maximum fee.

The ticket receiver unit 12 may, and preferably does, also include an automatic pay station 30 which includes a cash accepter 31 and also, if desired, a change return device 32. The cash accepter accepts cash deposited by the customer and transmits information indicating the amount of cash deposited along a line 35 to the computation module 13. If change is required, the computation module 13 dispatches appropriate control signals along a line 36 to the change return device 32 which returns the proper change stored in a magazine to the customer.

The computation module 13 operates to control the ticket issuer 11 to synchronize the encoding of information upon the ticket to a time interval corresponding to the actual time of day. The module 13 also operates the exit gate control 14 by dispatching an appropriate command signal along line 37. The computation module 13 further operates to receive the encoded information from the ticket reader 21 on line 22 and to compare this information with the time period indicating the time of day at which the customer is leaving the lot, and then computes the number of time periods which have elapsed between the customers entry and exit to assign the proper fee to be charged the customer for the time for which he has used the parking area. The computation module 13 additionally displays the assigmed fee to the customer. Payment of this assigned fee into the cash accepter 31 transmits signals along line 35 to the module 13 to cause to to operate the gate control 14 to permit the customer to leave the lot.

The computation module 13 includes a real time clock 40 which operates in correlation with the actual time of day. The clock 40 is provided with means for dividing the time of day into discrete time periods and to generate signals corresponding to these time period divisions along a line 41 to a real time storage register 42. The register 42 is provided with an output 43 on which coded information representative of the time period related to the real time of day is transmitted to the ticket issuer 11 along line 17.

The module 13 is further provided with an IN-time storage register 45 which receives the coded information from the ticket reader 21 along line 22. This information, representative of the time at which the customer entered the lot, had been encoded upon the ticket, when the customer entered the lot. As it is read from the ticket, it is stored in the register 45 for further interrogation. A differential comparator 46 is provided with the two inputs, a first input 47 which receives the IN-time from register 45, and a second input 48 which receives the real time from the output 43 of the real time register 42. This real time becomes the OUT-time which is compared with IN-time information received on line 47 from the IN-time storage register 45 in order to derive to the number of elapsed time periods which is transmitted in coded form along line 49 to an elapsed register 50 which stores the elapsed time information.

The information from the elapsed time register 50 is communicated along a line 83 to a diode fee matrix 52. The diode fee matrix 52 serves as a fee computing device which determines the fee to be charged for the number of time periods elasped between entry and exit from the lot. This fee is contained in information transmitted along line 53 to a fee register 54 which records and displays the fee to the customer. In the event that the ticket has been lost, a maximum fee charge would be entered in the register 54 through information received from line 24 from the lost ticket switch 23 and is input to the register 54 along line 55. As cash is deposited into the cash accepter 31, the information transmitted therefrom along line 35 is processed by logic 58 which generates the control signal on line 37 to operate the gate 14 when the amount of cash accepted corresponds to the fee as stored in the register 54. This logic 58 preferably operates the fee register 54 through information transmitted along line 59, to decrement the contents of the register 54 so as to cause the register 54 to record the balance due and also to display this to the customer. The operation and structure of the ticket issuer can best be understood by reference to FIGS. 2 through 6.

According to one of the aspects of the present invention, the INtime is encoded magnetically upon paper tickets. Such a ticket 65 can be seen in FIG. 5. The ticket 65 is made of paper and carries printed thereon in magnetizable ink three longitudinal two part strips 66. The forward portion 67 of the strips 66 lies near the leading edge 68 of the ticket 65 and is provided to carry binary coded information representative of the units portion of a decimal number which identifies the particular period of time during a day. The trailing portions 69 of the strips 66 is provided to carry information representing the tens digit of the decimal number. Two decimal digits are encoded to provide sufficient capacity to carry BCD representations of ninety-six time periods, each representative of a different 15 minute interval of a 24 hour day.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the reference line 70 represents the position of a row of magnetic recording heads overlying the ticket 65. As will be explained below, in the encoding of the tickets, binary information is transmitted to the recording heads serially with the binary information representing the units digits being transmitted first and that representing the tens digit being transmitted second. In FIG. 5, the ticket is so positioned such that the units information is being recorded on the forward strip portions 67. In FIG. 6, the ticket is so positioned that the tens digit information is being recorded on strip portion 69. As the region 71 lying between the strip portions 102 and 69 passes beneath the heads positioned at line 70, the information transmitted to the recording heads is switched from the units digit encoding information to the tens digit encoding information. This switching is achieved by a switch 72 which is actuated by a cam 73 carried by the mechanism which feeds the ticket 65. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the strip portions 67 are beneath the heads positioned at line 70, the switch 72 is actuated, and when the strip portions 69 underline the heads at line 70, the switch 72 is deactuated.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a logic and schematic diagram of the ticket issuer 11 is therein illustrated. The BCD information is fed to the issuer 11 along the lines 17 from the computation module 13. The magnetic encoding is done by magnetic recording heads 75 which are physically positioned in the reader overlying the line 70 (FIGS. 5 and 6). The heads 75-1, 75-2, 75-4 and 75-7 record BCD information, for example, in a 1-2-4-7 code. The adjacent heads 75-1 and 75-2 are positioned over one of the strips of the ticket and are preferably two portions of the single stereo recording head. Similarly, heads 75-4 and 75-7 are positioned over the center strip of the ticket 65. A fifth head 75-C is provided to generate a control signal which will be used by the ticket reader 21 to recognize the proper orientation of the ticket. This head overlies the third strip of the ticket 65.

The heads 75 are energized with a 120 hertz signal which is formed from a 60 hertz AC source 76 passed through an unfiltered, full-wave rectifier 77. The head 75-C is permanently connected across the output of the filter 77. Each of the heads 75-1 through 75-7 is connected through a contact a respective reed relay 78-1 through 78-7 across the output of the filter 77. The read relays 78 are each driven by a respective one of four OR-gates 79-1 through 79-7. Each of the OR-gates 79 is provided with two inputs. One of the inputs of each of the OR-gates 79 is connected to the output of a respective one of four AND-gates 80-1 through 80-7, while the other input of each of the OR-gates 79 is connected to a respective output of one of four AND-gates 81-1 through 81-7. The AND-gates 80 supply the units digit information while the AND-gates 81 supply the tens digit information. The AND-gates 80 and 81 are each provided with a pair of inputs. One of the inputs of each of the AND-gates 80 is connected to the one of the respective input lines from the line 17U of the line set 17 which carries the respective bit of the units digit information, while one of the inputs of the respective AND-gates 81 is connected in a similar manner to one of the input lines 17T of the line set 17 from the computation module 13. The second inputs of each of the AND-gates 80 are tied together and connected to the normally closed contact 72A of the limit switch 72, while the second inputs of each of the AND-gates 81 are tied together and connected to the normally open contact 72B of the limit switch 72. The common terminal of the limit switch 72 is energized to apply a signal at the appropriate logic level to enable whichever set of AND-gates 80 or 81 is connected by the switch 72.

In operation, digital information representative of the real time of day will be continuously present in BCD coded form on the line 17 entering the ticket issuer 11. As the ticket is issued, the switch 72 is actuated to the position shown in FIG. 2 to allow the BCD units information from line 17U to pass through the AND-gates 80 to energize appropriate ones of the relays 79 and thereby close the appropriate contacts 78 to drive the appropriate heads 75 to print the coded information on the ticket which corresponds to the units position of a decimal number representative of the period of the time of day. When the ticket passes the gap 71 beneath the heads 75, the switch 72 actuates to position 72B allowing the tens digit information from lines 17T to pass through the AND-gates 81 and similarly to energize the heads 75 with the information representative of the tens digit of the decimal number representing the real time of day at entry.

Referring to FIG. 3, the structure of the tissue issuer 11 is illustrated. The issuer includes a housing 83 having contained therein a device which feeds individual ticket blanks beneath a record head assembly 84 as each entering customer approaches the ticket issuer 11. The assembly 84 includes a guide plate 85 pivotally attached about a shaft 86 to a frame mount 87 secured to the housing 83. The plate 85 is free to slide transversely on the shaft 86. THe plate 85 has mounted at one end thereof the recording heads 75 which are positioned in the assembly 84 so as to contact the magnetizable strips 66 printed on a ticket 65 as it passes over a lower platen assenbly 88. Tickets are driven beneath the 75 on the plate 88 by a feed mechanism (not shown) of a conventional type. On the drive mechanism of the feed mechanism is positioned the cam 73 which operates the switch 72 as is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, the construction of the head assembly 84 can be better seen. The plate 88 underlies the issued ticket 65. The guideplate 85 is shown as supported at its upper end upon the pivot shaft 86. The plate 85 is free to slide transversely upon the shaft 86 but is biased by a compression spring 89 to move in one direction. The guide plate 85 is provided with a downwardly formed guide surface 90 which registers against one edge 91 of the ticket 65 so that the heads may be appropriately registered with respect to the edge 91 of the ticket 65 to coincide exactly with the magnetizable 66 preprinted upon the ticket 65. About the shaft 86 is also provided a pair of idler rollers 92 which press the ticket 65 against the platen 88.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the ticket reader 21, the lost ticket switch 23, the cash accepter 31, and the change return mechanism 32, are mounted behind a panel 99 within what will be hereinafter generally refered to as the exit station assembly 100. The panel 99 has mounted thereon the ticket receiving slot 101 through which the customer inserts his ticket upon leaving the lot. The panel 99 also includes a coin receiving slot 102 into which the customer deposits coins into the cash accepter mechanism 31 lying therebehind. Adjacent the coin slot 102 is positioned a digital fee display 103 which is operated to display the fee data stored in, and may be a part of, the fee register 54 (FIG. 1). The panel 99 also includes a coil return slot 104 into which change being returned by the change return mechanism 32 (FIG. 1) positioned behind the panel 99 will drop. Also, a coin and ticket return button 105 is positioned on the panel 99 to cancel the transaction and return all money deposited by the customer plus his inserted ticket to him. The returned money will also be delivered via the slot 104 while the returned ticket will emerge from the ticket receiving slot 101 when this button 105 is depressed.

A ticket reader head assembly 108, illustrated in FIGS. 8-10, is substantially identical to the ticket issuer head assembly 84 described above. The read head structure shown in FIG. 8 includes generally the read head assembly 108 which carries the magnetic read heads 109. This is also pivotally mounted about a shaft 110 along which it is free to move transversely but is biased by a compression spring 111 in one direction so that a guide member 112 of the head assembly 108 will register against the edge 91 of the ticket 65 inserted into the reader through the slot 101. Rollers 113 are provided to press the ticket 65 against a platen 114 which forms the lower edge of the slot 101. The reader 21 is provided with three ticket responsive switches. These include a front card limit switch 117, which is actuated to indicate the presence of the ticket near the slot 101 on the platen 114, a back card limit switch 118 which is provided to detect a ticket at the back edge of the platen 114, and a half-way switch 119 which is provided to detect the presence of a ticket at the position at which the read heads 109 cross over the region 71 on the ticket 65 between the forward units portion 67 of the strips 66 and the rearward tens portion 69 of the strips 66. By reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that the read head position relative to the ticket indicated by the reference line 120 corresponds to a relative position wherein the heads 109 overlie the units portion 67 of the strips 66 while the switch 119 is deactuated. As the ticket passes into the reader, and the portion 71 passes beneath the head 109 and across the reference line 120, and actuator 121 positioned in an appropriate distance from the read head 109 will detect the leading edge 68 of the ticket 65 to actuate the switch 119 before the heads 109 have reached the tens portion 69 of the strips 66.

The operation and circuitry of the reader 21 can better be understood by reference to FIG. 11. As in the ticket issuer 11, the magnetic heads 109 include heads 109-1, 109-2, 109-4 and 109-7 which correspond to the respective bit representations of the 1-2-4-7 BCD code which represents the numbers coded upon the tickets. These heads are preferably grouped with the heads 109-1 and 109-2 forming two tracts of a single stereo recording head which overlies one of the strips 66 on the ticket while the heads 109-4 and 109-7 form parts of another stereo head which overlie the center strip of the ticket. A fifth head 109-C is provided which overlies the third strip of the ticket and operates as a control channel to determine whether or not the ticket has been properly inserted.

Each of the heads 109 has its output connected to the inputs of a respective pre-amplifier 124-1 through 124-7. These pre-amplifiers operate to amplify the tones picked up by the heads 109 and to serve as detectors to provide a positive output on the respective line 125-1 through 125-7 when a tone is present in a given channel. These outputs 125 are connected to one of the inputs of a set of two input AND-gates 126-1 through 126-7 which have the other of their inputs connected together and to the normally opened contacts 117A of the front card limit switch 117 so that signals will pass through the AND-gates 126 only when the switch 117 is actuated by the presence of a portion of the card 65. The output of the AND-gates 126 are connected to the common terminals 119-1 through 119-7 of respective poles of the half-way limit switch 119. The switch 119 will change positions as the card is being fed beneath the recording heads 109. In this manner, the information read by heads 109 is first transmitted to the units leads 22-U of the line set 22 and then to the tens set 22-T of the line set 22. Thus, first the units BCD coded information is read from the ticket portions 67, and then as the heads pass over the region 71 of the ticket, the switch 119 changes state to cause the information to be read from the tens portion 69 of the strips 66 of the ticket 65 to be fed to lines 22-T.

The feeding of the ticket is initiated by actuation of the front card limit switch 117 as the ticket 65 is inserted into the slot 101. This signal is transmitted to one of the inputs of a two input AND-gate 128 which has the other of its inputs, which is an inverted input, connected to the back card limit switch 118. Signals are interpreted as logically positive from the switches 117 and 118 when the switches are closed or are in a position actuated by the presence of the ticket 65. Thus, as the front card limit switch 117 closes, the back card limit switch 118 being at this time open, the signal will pass through the AND-gate 128 and through an OR-gate 129 whereupon it energizes a ticket feed motor 130 to feed the ticket 65 by linkage illustrated diagrammatically by the dotted line 131 through the reader 21. The motor 130 will continue to feed the ticket until the back card limit switch 118 is actuated whereupon the output of the AND-gate 128 will go to zero stopping the motor 130.

If a ticket is properly inserted, a signal will be detected by the head 109-C and will cause a positive signal at the output of the pre-amplifier detector 134 which will be applied to the negative input of an AND-gate 135 to inhibit the output of this gate. The output of the gate 129 is also connected to a negative input of the AND-gate 135 to inhibit the output of this gate while the motor 130 is being driven in a forward direction. The front card limit switch 117 is connected to a positive input of this gate 135. If a signal is not detected by head 109-C, then when both the front limit switch 117 and the back card limit switch 118 are closed, a signal will pass through the AND-gate 135 through an OR-gate 136 to actuate a one-shot multi-vibrator 137 which is energized for a sufficient amount of time to drive the motor 130 in a reverse direction and eject the ticket through the slot 101 back to the customer. The cancel or ticket and coin return switch 105 is also connected to the OR-gate 136 to energize this one-shot multi-vibrator 137 to allow the customer to manually return the ticket to him at any time during the transaction by driving the motor 130 in reverse for a specified period of time.

In this manner of providing the control channel 109-C within the reader and issuer, only a ticket properly issued by an issuer 11 and then properly inserted in the appropriate orientation into the slot 101 of the reader will be accepted. Thus, if a blank or uncoded ticket is inserted even properly into the slot 101, no signal will be detected by the read head 109-C and the ticket will be automatically returned to the customer. If, on the other hand, a ticket, even if properly coded when issued, is inserted in the improper orientation into the slot 101, it will also be returned to the customer. This is due to the fact that if the ticket is inserted upside down no recording will be detected by the head 109-C and the motor 130 will automatically reverse and eject the ticket. Also, if the ticket is inserted backwards into the slot 101, the head 109-C will be positioned relative to the ticket, instead of overlying the lowermost row or strip 66 on the ticket as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, overlying the region above the uppermost row of the ticket (as the ticket will be upside down in the drawing), and thus, causing the ticket to be returned.

When a transaction has been completed, the ticket will be automatically fed from its position on the platen into a receptacle within the housing of the exit station 100. This is achieved by the communication of a signal on line 140 from the computation module 13. This signal actuates a one-shot multi-vibrator 141 which causes the signal to pass through the OR-gate 129 and drive the motor 130 in a forward direction for a specified period of time which is sufficient to completely transport the ticket 65 from the platen area of the reader to the appropriate receptacle provided for it. Thus, once the transaction is completed and the customer has gained egress from the lot, the ticket is retained by the exit station 100 and cannot be used again by the customer. A reset signal line 142 is provided to reset the computation module. This line is connected to the normally closed contact of the front and limit switch 117. Also, a compute command signal line 143 is provided connected to the normally opened contact of the back card switch 118.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the computation module 13 in one embodiment of the present invention. This diagram illustrates the clock 40 having its output 41 connected to the input of an elapsed time computation module 150. The module 150 includes the real time register 42 having its output 43 provided in two forms. The first form is a BCD output 151 connected to the ticket issuer 11 through lines 17. The clock 40 includes a real time clock or synchronis motor 152 which drives a 15 minut stepper mechanism 153. This causes an intermittent angular motion or displacement at the input 41 every fifteen minutes. The input 41 is a mechanical shaft, in this embodiment, which drives the wipers of a pair of rotary switches 154 and 155. Each of the switches 154 and 155 is a 96 position four-pole rotary switch. Each of the 96 positions corresponds to one of the 96 15 minute interval time periods of the day. Each of these time intervals is identified by a unique decimal number in the range of from 1 to 96, and these numbers are represented by the switch positions. The switch 154 represents the units digits of this decimal number and the switch 155 represents the tens digit of this decimal number. Each of the wiper contacts is electrically connected to one of the BCD output lines 151. Each of the switches is so wired so as to impose a unique BCD representation of the decimal numbers on the lines 151 when the switch is in each of the 96 positions. The shaft of these switches 154 and 155 forms a mechanical output 156, the angular position of which is representative of the setting of the real time register 42. The outputs 151 and 156 logically represent the same information designated as output 43 in FIG. 1 except that this information is in two different coded forms, that on lines 151 being electrical BCD encoded information and that on shaft 156 being a mechanical one of 96 angular positions.

The output 22 from the reader 21 connects to an IN-time storage regiser 45 which includes an electrical storage register and comparator circuit 160, a mechanical IN-time storage register 161, and a hunt motor 162. The circuit 160 operates to store the electrical information from the reader 21 and transform it into a mechanical form as designated by the angular position of the switches of register 161. Register 161 is of the same form as register 42 in that it includes a pair of 96 position four-pole rotary switches 163 and 164. The switch 163 represents the units position of the decimal digit while the switch 164 represents the tens position of the decimal digit, that decimal digit corresponding to the number assigned to one of the 96 angular positions of the switches 163 and 164. The manner in which the switch register 161 is set to the proper angular position which represents the IN-time of a customer is by the driving of a motor 162 through an electrical lead 165 from the comparator 160. The line 165 is energized as long as BCD information on lines 166 representative of the angular positions of the switches 163 and 164 does not correspond to that read from the reader 21. When this information does coincide, a signal on line 165 is immediately terminated, thus causing the position of the register 161 to stop in the precise position which corresponds to the IN-time as read by the reader 21 from the deposited ticket 65 of the customer. This angular position of the register 161 is transmitted along the shaft 167 which corresponds to the output 47 from the IN-time register 45. The output of the motor 162, while shown in FIG. 12 as connected to the shaft of switch 161, is in the embodiment shown below (FIG. 14) connected to the shaft of the elapsed time register 170. As will be seen, this is equivalent and done as a matter of convenience.

The operation of the comparator 160 in conjunction with the IN-time register 161 and hunt motor 162 which comprises the IN-time storage register 45 will be better understood in connection with the discussion of the comparator circuit of FIG. 13 below. After this comparator generator is complete, however, the real time of day or the OUT-time of the customer will be represented by an angular position of the real time register switch 42 while the IN-time of the customer, that which was encoded upon his ticket will be represented by the angular position of the IN-time register switches 161. These two times are transmitted to the differential comparator 46 through inputs 48 and 47 respectively. The differential comparator 46 is a mechanical differential drive 171 which operates to compute the elapsed time in terms of the number of 15 minute time intervals which have elapsed between the IN-time of the customer and the OUT-time of the customer. This elapsed time is represented by the angular position of the output shaft 172 which forms the differential output signal line 49 of FIG. 1. This shaft 172 drives the rotary switch 170 which is a 96 position single-pole rotary switch. This switch 170 functions as the elapsed time register 50 of FIG. 1. The outputs of the switch 170 are 96 separate lines, each of which corresponds to one of the fifteen minute time interval periods of the day. These 96 lines represent the signal output 51 of FIG. 1.

The circuitry of the remaining portion of the system illustrated in the diagram of FIG. 12 is similar to that disclosed in the copending application of Carl Gieringer et al. entitled Automatic Fee Determining System For Parking Garages, Ser. No. 143,300 filed May 14, 1971. This system includes the diode matrix 52 which transforms the one-of-f-96 coded representations of the number of elapsed time intervals into a specific fee which is encoded in the form of three decimal digits, each represented by a one-to-ten code electrical signal on line 53.

The lines 53 connect to the fee register 54 which stores a decimal representation of the dollar amount of the fee assessed by the diode matrix 52 for the number elapsed time intervals as established by the elapsed time register 50. Once the fee has been set in the register 54, a signal is emitted on line 175 which sets a flip-flop 176. The output of the flip-flop 176 is connected to one of the inputs of a two input AND-gate 177. The outer input of the AND-gate 177 is connected to an output 178 of the fee register 54. The output 178 will carry a signal when the fee register has been reduced to zero. The register will be reduced to zero as the cash deposited in the cash receiver is substracted from the fee as determined in the register 54. This zero signal passing through the AND-gate 177 will actuate the gate control 14 through the line 37 and also supply the transaction complete signal to the line 140 which energizes the reader to drop the ticket into the internal receptacle. The signal out of the AND-gate 177 also passes through an OR-gate 180 to reset the flip-flop 176, and thus make further actuation of the gate impossible until a fee has been set up again on the fee register 54. The flip-flop 176 and the fee register 54 are also capable of being reset by depression of the coin and ticket return or cancel button 105 on the panel 99.

The system is further provided with subtraction logic illustrated diagrammatically as box 58 in FIG. 12 which transmits the signal along line 59 to decrement or reduce the fee register 54 toward zero as cash is received. When a zero set is reached and this signal is present on line 178, a signal is generated along line 181 to the subtraction logic 58 which sends an appropriate signal along the line 36 to the changer 32 representative of the overpayment so that correct change can be returned to the customer.

The fee register may also be set by actuation of the lost card switch 23 which signals the fee register 54 along line 24.

Referring now to FIG. 13, the details of the comparator circuit 160 of FIG. 12 are shown in logic diagram form. The register 160 includes a set of inputs 22 from the card reader 21. These inputs are in two groups of four, groups 22-U which carries the BCD coded units digits and group 22-T which carries the BCD coded tens digit information. Each of the lines 22-U is connected to the set input of a respective one of a set four flip-flops 185-1 through 185-7 and each of lines 22-T is connected to the set input of a respective one of a set of four flip-flops 186-1 through 186-7. The reset inputs of each of the flip-flops 185 and 186 are all connected together and to the reset line 142 which is connected from the normally closed contact of the front card limit switch 117A of the card reader 21 (FIG. 11). Thus, the flip-flop 185 will be set and hold the signals applied to them from the card reader as the first portion of the strips on the cards are read and then the flip-flop 186 will store the tens digit information as that information is read from the second portion of the strip on the ticket. Once this information is set in the flip-flop 185 and 186, which form an input storage register, it will be retained until the ticket is no longer present to actuate the front card limit switch 117, which will in effect be until the transaction is completed. The outputs from the flip-flops 185 and 186 pass through OR-gates 187 and 188 respectively into one of the inputs of respective sets of two input EXCLUSIVE OR-gates 189 and 190. The other of the inputs of each of the OR-gates 189 are connected from the outputs 166-U of the IN-time storage register 161 and the other of the inputs of the register 190 are connected from the outputs 166-T of the tens position of the IN-time storage register 161. The outputs of the register 189 and 190 will be zero when the respective bits from the readr and the IN-time storage register coincide and will be one at any time when they do not coincide. All of these outputs are connected to the IN-puts of an OR-gate 191. The output 192 of the OR-gate 191 is connected through an AND-gate 193 and through an OR-gate 194 and drive amplifier 195 to the hunt motor 162 along the line 165. When any one of the bits out of the register 189 and 190 is a one indicating that there is not perfect coincidence between all other respective bits from the IN-time register 161 and that supplied by the reader 21, then there will be a signal at the output 192 of the OR-gate 191 which will pass through the AND-gate 193 to drive the hunt motor 162 until such a position is obtained where there is a perfect coincidence, in which case the signal out of the OR-gate 191 will go to zero and the motor will immediately stop. The AND-gate 193 is enabled at another of the inputs from the compute signal line 143 by the closure of a back card limit switch 118 from the reader (FIG. 11).

The OR-gates 187 and 188 have second inputs connected to the outputs of respective AND-gates 197 and 198 respectively. These AND-gates have two inputs, the other of which is connected from the lines 151-U and 151-T respectively from the real time register 42 (FIG. 12). These are provided so that the position of the IN-time register 161 may be set to a home position which is the same as the real time position. This feature will provide a more rapid setting of the IN-time registers since it is most likely that the time lapsed between the IN-time and the OUT-time will be less than 12 hours, the average time period through which the register must be expected to travel if it were randomly placed. The home setting is achieved upon a resetting of the machine and is initiated by the reset signal from line 142 which sets a flip-flop 199 which has its output connected along line 676 to the other of the inputs of the AND-gates 197 and 198. Thus, upon the completion of each transaction, the real time position from the line 151. The flip-flop 199 will be automatically reset upon the zero setting of the output 192 of the OR-gate 191 which will indicate that the register 161 has been set to its home position. This output 192 is connected to the negative input of an AND-gate 202 which has another positive input connected to the output of the flip-flop 199. The output 203 of the AND-gate 202 is connected to the reset input of the flip-flop 199.

Referring now to FIG. 14, the mechanical differential drive 171 is illustrated in combination with the real time register 42, the IN-time register 161 and the elapsed time register 170. The real time register 42 includes the tens digit switch 155 and the units digit switch 154. The switch 155 includes a stationary printed circuit contact plate 205 and the movable or wiper contact 206. The switch 154 includes the fixed printed circuit contact plate 207 and the movable wiper contact 208. The movable contacts 206 and 208 are rigidly secured to a shaft 209 supported by bushings 210 and 211 attached to a rigid frame 212. The switch contacts 206 and 208 move with the shaft 209 which is turned by the output shaft 41 of the clock 40 (FIG. 1) connected through gears 213 and 214. The switch contacts 206 and 208 moved intermittently once every 15 minutes and will be normally at rest while the hunt motor 162 is moving the IN-time register switches 161 to their desired positions. The hunt motor 162 is connected through its output shaft 221 which carries a gear thereon which drives a gear 222 secured to a shaft 223 which is supported by bearings 224 to the frame support 212 and through a bearing 225 to the shaft 209. To the shaft 223 is connected the movable contact 227 of the elapsed time register 170. The stationary printed circuit contact plate 228 of the switch 170 is fixidly attached to the base 212. Thus, the motor 162 directly drives the contacts of the elapsed time switch 170.

The IN-time switch 161 includes the tens digits stationary switch printed circuit contact plate 231 and the tens movable contact arm 232. Also, it includes the units digit fixed contact plate 233 and the units digit movable contact plate 234. The movable contacts 233 and 234 are rigidly attached to a sleeve 235 which is channeled to the shaft 223. The contacts 232 and 234 are driven through a gear 238 attached to the sleeve 235. The gear 238 is driven through the differential drive mechanism 171. This drive is communicated from the shaft 223 which turns a gear 241 rigidly keyed to the shaft 223. The motion of gear 241 is transmitted to a disc 242 journaled to the shaft 223 upon a sleeve 243, through the differential mechanism 244. This mechanism includes a gear 246 which is carried by a shaft 247 (FIGS. 15 and 16) and disc 242. The gear 246 drives gear 249 which is carried by a shaft 250 also carried on plate 242. The gear 249 in turn will move with respect to a gear 252 rigidly supported at the end of shaft 209 of the real time clock mechanism. This causes the plate 242 to turn with the sleeve 243 about the shaft 223 and to carry therewith a gear 255. The gear 255 turns a gear 256 mounted upon a shaft 257 which carries with it a gear 258 which turns the gear 238 that drives the switches 161 of the IN-time register.

The drive from shaft 223 transmits motion differentially with respect to gear 252 on the shaft 209 of the real time register 42 to the gear 238 which drives the movable contacts of the IN-time register switch 161. Furthermore, the mechanism thus far discussed is a conventional differential drive mechanism. It is experienced with mechanisms of this type that considerable strain develops throughout this gear train so that when the motor 162 is ultimately stopped the residual stresses within the system will continue to apply motion to the output gear 238 which drives the switch register 161. With a 96 position switch, it is found that this forward motion or delayed motion is intolerable as it tends to move the switch off of its prescribed positions.

To accommodate this, the present invention incorporates a mechanism illustrated generally at area 260 of FIG. 14 which applies a forward stress or drive to the output gear 238. This is accomplished by providing a slip clutch 261 which moves about the gear 238 at a greater rate than the gear 238 is driven by this gear 258. This accelerated motion of the clutch 261 is achieved through gear 263 attached rigidly to shaft 223 which drives gear 264 which is secured to a collar 265 which slips on shaft 257. This collar 265 carries the gear 266 which drives a gear 268 secured to the clutch plate sleeve 269 which is slidably mounted shaft 223. This gear is driven at a greater speed than gear 263 due to the relative sizes of gears 263,264,266, and 268. This drives the clutch 261 at a greater speed than the gear 283 is driven by the gear 258, thus relieving tge strain on the differential drive 171.

The differential drive illustrated in FIG. 14 is functionally equivalent that diagramed in FIG. 12; however, the drive motor 162 is actually shown in FIG. 14 as connected to the elapsed time register 170 rather than the IN-time register 161. The differential drive, however, maintains the relationship between the registers 42, 161 and 170 so as to set one of the registers whenever the other two are moved a predetermined position.

Referring briefly to FIG. 17, the 15 minute stepper is illustrated. The clock 152 has an output gear train which includes a drive gear 275 which drives a gear 276 about a shaft 277. THe shaft 277 will turn at the rate of one revolution every 15 minutes. This will carry the cam 278 at a similar r.p.m. which will rock the rocker arm 279 driven by the cam follower 280 at an oscillatory rate of also one cycle per 15 minutes as the cam follower 280 drops abruptly off of the step 281 of the cam 278, the ratchet and pawl mechanism 284 will turn the gear 213 and thus rotate the gear 214 which drives the shaft 209 of the real time register 42.

The operation of this differential time computer portion can be understood by reference to FIGS. 18 through 23. As shown in FIG. 18, a ticket 65 is illustrated encoded in such a manner as to designate a time interval number 15. This is done through a BCD coding of the tens position 69 with the one bit position only carrying a signal representative of the number one in the tens position. The units position 67 is encoded with bits 1 and 4 encoded representative of the number five in the units position. Such a time is measured from some abritrary reference point of say 6 a.m. would indicate that a customer entered the lot at some time between 8:45 and 9:00 a.m. If the customer returns to the lot to refeed his card after approximately 21/2 hours, he will leave the lot at somewhere between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., some 10 of the 15 minute time intervals later. At the time of exit, the real time clock positions will be as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. FIG. 19 represents the units digit position at the 25th time interval period of the day. This units position indicates a coding representative of the digit "5," the units digit of the number "25," stored on the units switch 154. In this position, the wiper 208 is in the position shown relative to the stationary switch plate 207. Similarly, the tens digit switch 155 is in a position representative of the digit "2" in the tens digit position of the number "25." With the wiper 206 of switch 155 in the position shown relative to the stationary switch plate 205. Prior to insertion of the ticket 65 (FIG. 18) into the reader 21, the elapsed time switch 170 will be in a position indicated by the zero or 96 in FIG. 21. This indicates that the IN-time register 161 is in the same position as the OUT-time register 42 which is its home position. As the customer inserts his ticket into the reader, the comparator circuit 160 will store the number 25 read from the ticket 65 and begin driving the motor 162 until the position of the IN-time register 171 corresponds to the number 15. This is the position illustrated on the switch shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. In this position, the switch 163 of the units position of the IN-time register is illustrated with its movable contact 234 in the 15th interval position, wherein the number encoded is the number "5" representative of the second digit of the number 15. In a similar position, the wiper 232 of the switch 164 is in the position wherein the digit "1," the tens digit of the number 15, is encoded. In this position, the difference between the settings of the register 161 and that of the register 42 will be indicated on the switch 170 illutrated in the FIG. 21 wherein the wiper contact 227 is in the position shown relative to the fixed contact plate 228 indicating an elapse of ten intervals.

Referring now back to FIG. 12, which illustrates in detail the computation module 13, the embodiment therein illustrated particularly within the elapsed time computation portion 150 is an electro-mechanical computer. FIG. 24 illustrates a block diagram form of a solid state version of the elapsed time computation module 150. This circuit employs a 1-2-4-8 BCD code rather than the 1-2-4-7 code employed as mentioned above. Referring now to FIG. 24, the output 41 from the clock 40 is communicated to the real time register 42' which stores in decimal form the real time interval of the day. The output of this register 156' is communicated through a decimal to BCD convertor of the diode decoder type 301 to deliver a real time BCD coded input on line 48' to a solid state differential comparator circuit 171'. The output 22 from the reader 21 is communicated to a solid state INtime storage register 161' which directly stores the IN-time value read from the card 21. The differentiator circuit 171' computes the elapsed time and communicates it in BCD form on line 49' to a solid state elapsed time register 170'. The output of this register is transmitted through the line 302 through a BCD 96 diode decoder 303 to the 96 output line 51.

The differentiator circuit 171' is illustrated in the logic diagram of FIG. 25. The outputs from the reader on lines 22-U and 22-T are stored in registers 310 and 311 respectively. The registers 310 and 311 are solid state integrated circuit decade counters and the inputs from lines 22 are connected to the set inputs of the respective bit positions of these counters. The counters 310 and 311 make up the IN-time storage register 161'.

Another pair of decade counters 312 and 313 are provided which make up the elapsed time storage register 170'. This register is set to zero through a reset signal on line 315 which is applied from the reset input 142. The input 41 from the clock is connected to the register 42'. The outputs of the respective units and tens digits positions 317 and 318 are converted through respective diode decimal to BCD convertors 319 and 320 to BCD representations of the real time. These are communicated to respective sets of OR-gates 322 and 323. The other inputs of these OR-gates are connected from the outputs of the respective register 310 and 311. The outputs of the OR-gates 322 and 323 are connected to the inputs of an OR-gate 324 which has its output 325 connected to the negative input of an AND-gate 326. The output 325 will be positive so long as any of the bit positions between the real time and the IN-time do not coincide. A 10 kilo-hertz free running clock 328 is also connected to an input of the AND-gate 326 which is provided with a further input connected to the compute output 143 from the reader. The compute output 143 is energized when the back card switch 188 is closed and this will energize the AND-gate 326 so long as the output of the AND-gate 324 is positive which will be whenever the IN-time and real time do not coincide. This will allow the ten kilo-hertz pulses to pass through the AND-gate 326 to line 329 which is connected to the clock IN-puts of the registers 161' and 170'. This will repeatedly increment both of the registers 161'and 170' simultaneously until such time as the register 161' coincides with the register 42'. At this point, the output of the AND-gate 324 will go negative disabling the AND-gate 326 and removing the pulses from line 329 terminating the counting cycle. The number which will remain in the register 170' will at this time be the difference between the IN-time which was initially set upon the registers 161' and the real time or OUT-time which is recorded in the register 42', thus indicating the number of elapsed time periods between the IN-time and the OUT-time. The outputs of the register 170' are transmitted through the BCD 96 diode decoder 303 to the outputs 51.

FIG. 26 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a recording cash register and an attendant may be substituted for the cash receiver 30 and the subtraction logic 58 in the diagram of FIG. 1. The circuit illustrated in FIG. 26 is an interface between the system of FIG. 1 and a cash register of the recording type. The circuit of FIG. 26 operates to receive the fee information along line (not shown) from the diode matrix 52 and transmit it serially to the cash register. The circuit employs three sets of relays 350 which include a set of ten dollar digit relays 351, a set of ten ten cent digit relays 352, and two cent digit relays 353. The cent digit relays are only provided for even multiples of five cents. These relays stores the information from the diode fee matrix 52 and set their respective contacts 350' in the output lines 355 to the cash register. The output lines 355 operate the cash register in the same manner as it would be operated had the attendant entered the fee on the cash register key board.

The circuit of FIG. 26 includes a free running 30 cycle clock 360 which is comprised of a flip-flop 361 connected across the 60 cycle line. The flip-flop 361 divides the 60 hertz line frequency of line 362 by two to derive the 30 hertz signal on line 363. This signal is transmitted through an AND-gate 366 to the input of a ten position, non-recycling shift register 370. The shift register 370 is comprised of a decade counter 371 and a set of ten decoding gates 372 connected to the outputs of the flip-flop bit positions of the counter 371. The tenth output 373 of the shift register 370 is connected to the input of the AND-gate 366 to lock out pulses after the ten pulse has entered the shift register to allow only one cycling of the register. The ten outputs 373 of the shift register are the negative outputs.

The flip-flop 361 is cleared and held in its off condition and enabled only when the fee has been set up within the fee register 54. This signal which controls this is transmitted to the reset input of the flip-flop 361 of the line 175 of FIG. 12.

The first four outputs of the shift register, 373-1 through 373-4, control relays 375-1 through 375-4 which contain the contacts 375-1' through 375-4' connected in series with the respective digit groups of the output lines 355 to the cash register. This sequentially transmits the dollar value digit by digit to the cash register. The fifth output 373-5 closes a contact 375-5' in a line to the cash register which actuates the transaction price recording mechanism of the cash register. The sixth output through the ninth outputs 373-6 through 373-9 are connected to the inputs of an OR-gate 377 to apply a sustained four cycle, long signal on line 378 which energizes the relay 375-6. The relay 375-6 has a contact 375-6' in an operate line to the cash register which drives the motor of the cash register and operates its mechanical functions. This operation will complete any computation operation which the cash register will perform and will open the cash register drawer. At this time, the attendant may take the payment from the customer and return to him any change required and then place the money in the drawer and close the drawer of the cash register. The closure of the drawer will cause a return signal to occur on line 380 from the cash register which is connected to the output line 37 to operate the gate mechanism 14. The circuit is also provided with interlocks and interlockcircuits between the cash register and the circuit which are illustrated generally as the circuit elements 381.

The embodiment of FIG. 26 is particularly useful in the larger attended parking lots wherein it is desirable to have an attendant available to make change and receive cash. The system of the invention, when used in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 6, provides a precise and automatic means of accounting for the cash received by the attendant and in determining the amount of money which he should return at the end of a given day for example.

The inventive concepts described above may be used in connection with parking systems particularly and also in connection with other types of applications wherein it is desirable to automatically assign fees on any lapsed time interval basis.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic fee determining system for computing a fee based on the number of elapsed time intervals between real time and the time of a previous event comprising:

a clock for generating discrete output signals at real time intervals;

a first digital storage register responsive to said output signals of said clock for storing data correlated to real time;

a record reader for reading the time of the previous event from a record of the time of such event;

a second digital storage register responsive to said record reader for storing data representative of the time of the previous event;

a third digital storage register for storing a digital representation of elapsed time intervals;

a differential time computing device for causing the data stored in said third register to equal the number of elapsed time intervals corresponding to the difference between the time data stored in said first and second registers, including a register incrementing element for incrementing the data stored in said second register and said third register until the data stored in said second register corresponds to the data in said first register; and

a fee determining computer responsive to said third register for generating digital data representative of a fee.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a recorder for dispensing records encoded with information correlated with the data stored in said first register.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth digital register for storing digital data representative of the output of said fee computer.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising:

a cash acceptor for receiving cash;

a gate;

means for comparing the amount of cash received by said acceptor with the data stored in said fourth register;

means for operating said gate in response to the result from said comparing means.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a recording cash register;

means for controlling said cash register in response to the output from said fee computer.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein:

the output from said fee computer is in the form of a plurality of parallel data elements; and

said system includes a data serializer for transmitting said parallel data serially to said cash register.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein:

said first, second, and third registers are mechanical registers, and

said differential computing device is a mechanical differential drive connected to said first, second, and third registers.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein:

said differential drive includes two of said connections each driven by one of said registers including said first register and third one of said connections through which the remaining one of said registers is driven,

said drive including means including a slip clutch for relieving the strain on said differential drive.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said reader further comprises:

means for reading a data channel from said record so that only an encoded record and a record received in one and only one orientation by said reader results in a reading of a given signal therefrom; and

means for initiating a control function in response to the reading said given signal.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein:

said second and third registers are solid state registers.

11. An automatic fee determining system for parking facilities capable of computing a fee based on the number of elapsed time intervals between the real time of a customer's exit from the facility and the time of the exiting cutomer's entry, comprising:

a clock for generating discrete output signals at intervals correlated to real time;

a first digital storage register responsive to the output of said clock for storing data representative of real time;

a record issuer adjacent an entrance lane of said facility for dispensing records encoded with information corresponding to the data stored in said first register at the time of issuance of said record;

a record reader for reading the data stored on a recoqd which corresponds to the time of entry into said facility;

a second digital storage register responsive to said record reader for storing digital data representative of the time of said entry;

a third digital storage register for storing a digital representation of elapsed time intervals;

a differential time computing device for causing the data stored in said third register to equal the number of elapsed time intervals corresponding to the difference between the time data stored in said first and said second registers, including a register incrementing element for incrementing the data stored in said second register and said third register until the data stored in said second register corresponds to the data in said first register; and

a fee determining computer responsive to said third register generating digital data representative of a fee.