EP0347090A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Vehicle monitoring system
Assignee: Teledyne UK Ltd
•
Filing: 1989-06-07
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2009-06-07
Abstract
Abstract A vehicle monitoring system, e.g. for identifying automatically vehicles exceeding a maximum speed limit, comprises a video camera (14) for capturing a video frame at any instant; vehicle detecting means, for example a radar (13), responsive to the presence of a moving vehicle (10) to trigger the camera (14) to capture a video frame at an instant when the image of an identification mark (e.g. a bar code 11b on the number plate) would appear at a predetermined position within that video frame; a temporary frame store (16) for the captured video frame; and on-line data processing means (17) programmed to identify the image of the identification mark in the frame store and to produce in real time an output signal (18) representing uniquely the detected vehicle.
Inventors
- 👤 Ralph Holtom
- 👤 Christopher John Morcom
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 21:58
CPC Classifications
G; G08; G08G; G08G1/00; G08G1/01; G08G1/052; G08G1/054
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
A vehicle monitoring system comprising: a video camera (14) operable to capture a video frame at any instant; vehicle detecting means (13, 12, 15)responsive to the presence of a moving vehicle (10) to trigger the video camera (14) to capture a video frame at an instant when the image of an identification mark (11a, 11b) on the vehicle would appear at a predetermined position within the field of view of the camera (14); a temporary frame store (16) for the captured video frame; and on-line data processing means (17) programmed to identify the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) in the frame store and to produce in real time an output signal (18) representing uniquely the detected vehicle (10).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
120 words
A vehicle monitoring system comprising: a video camera (14) operable to capture a video frame at any instant; vehicle detecting means (13, 12, 15)responsive to the presence of a moving vehicle (10) to trigger the video camera (14) to capture a video frame at an instant when the image of an identification mark (11a, 11b) on the vehicle would appear at a predetermined position within the field of view of the camera (14); a temporary frame store (16) for the captured video frame; and on-line data processing means (17) programmed to identify the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) in the frame store and to produce in real time an output signal (18) representing uniquely the detected vehicle (10).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein the camera (14) is operated in an asynchronous mode.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle detecting means (13, 12, 15) comprises means for detecting when the vehicle reaches a predetermined position relative to the video camera (14).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
49 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the vehicle detecting means (13, 12, 15) comprises means for determining whether the speed of the vehicle (10) exceeds a predetermined maximum speed and for preventing the said triggering unless the vehicle (10) exceeds that maximum speed.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
56 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to any preceding claim, wherein the vehicle detecting means (13, 12, 15) comprises means for determining the speed of the vehicle (10) and for providing a signal to the data processing means (17) representative of that speed so that the said output signal (18) includes a representation of the vehicle speed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to any preceding claim, comprising video storage means (20) for storing each successive captured video frame to provide off-line a permanent record.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 6 as appendant to claim 5, wherein the video storage means (20) responds to the said speed signal to insert on the permanent record corresponding to each video frame a representation of that vehicle speed.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to any preceding claim, wherein the integration time of the video camera (14) is of the order of 1 millisecond or less.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
41 words
A video monitoring system according to any preceding claim, wherein the identification mark (11a, 11b) is the vehicle number plate (11), and the data processing (17) means is programmed to read the alpha-numeric symbols (11d) thereon to identify the vehicle (10).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
45 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to any preceding claim, wherein the identification mark is a machine-readable code (11b) positioned at a predetermined location on the vehicle (10), and the data processing means (17) is programmed to read that code (11b) to identify the vehicle (10).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
40 words
A vehicle monitoring system according to any preceding claim, further comprising data processing means responsive to the said output signal to interrogate a central database storing vehicle registration information and thereby to identify the registered keeper of the vehicle (10).
Claim 13
Independent Claim
103 words
A method of identifying uniquely a moving vehicle (10) which carries a unique identification mark (11a, 11b) at a known position on the vehicle (10), using a video camera (14) capable of capturing a video frame at any instant, comprising: detecting the vehicle (10) which is a position such that the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) would appear at a predetermined position within the field of view of the camera (14); and processing the video frame to identify the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) and to produce in real time an output signal (18) representing uniquely the detected vehicle.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
103 words
A method of identifying uniquely a moving vehicle (10) which carries a unique identification mark (11a, 11b) at a known position on the vehicle (10), using a video camera (14) capable of capturing a video frame at any instant, comprising: detecting the vehicle (10) which is a position such that the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) would appear at a predetermined position within the field of view of the camera (14); and processing the video frame to identify the image of the identification mark (11a, 11b) and to produce in real time an output signal (18) representing uniquely the detected vehicle.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the camera (14) is operated in an asynchronous mode.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.