Expired parking meter indicator

Claim 1

An expired parking meter indicating system to facilitate the enforcement of parking regulations and reduce the work force required to bring about the enforcement, said system comprising the following components in addition to a parking meter and a parking space: a detector connected to said parking meter to ascertain the presence of a motor vehicle in said parking space and to provide a vehicle presence signal to initiate a parking control cycle; payment receiving means affixed to said parking meter to provide a payment and payment amount signal responsive to a payment made by the occupier of the parking space, said payment receiving means including a delay circuit to provide a reasonable time for the occupier to make a payment; timing means including signal receiving means responsive to both the vehicle presence signal of said detector and the payment and payment amount signal of the payment receiving means and further including means for sending a time out signal when the combination of the payment and payment amount signal and the duration of the presence signal indicate a time out condition; signal generator control means connected to by said parking meter, said signal generator control means being configured to receive said time out signal from the timing means indicating a time out condition and transmitting an output signal receivable by a parking control officer at a location remote from said parking meter; reset means connected to said detector so that when a driver removes a vehicle, a new parking control cycle will not be initiated until a new vehicle enters the parking space; and a time out signal interrupt responsive to an input from a parking control officer upon citing the vehicle for a parking violation, thereby clearing the time out signal sent out to parking control officers.