Appeal No. 2002-1753
Application No. 09/243,451
facility to inform users regarding the location of available parking spaces. Graphical,
rather than numerical, displays, are said to enable users to more easily locate an
advantageous and convenient parking spot, while owners of the facilities can generate
revenues to offset costs by providing the graphical displays for advertising.
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. A guidance system for a parking facility having a plurality of parking
spaces for which the occupancy of at least some of said spaces cannot
readily be visually detected by a user at an entrance to said facility, said
system comprising:
a plurality of monitored parking spaces equipped with sensors to
detect the presence of a vehicle in one of said monitored spaces,
a first display at a main entrance to said facility, said first display
providing information about the location of available spaces in said facility,
a plurality of second displays disposed at entries to particular areas
of said facility, said second displays providing information about the
location of available spaces in said areas,
a plurality of third displays disposed at a plurality of locations within
said facility, said third displays providing information about the availability
of spaces in areas near said third displays
at least one of said first, second and third displays is equipped to
display advertising in addition to information about parking space
availability.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Becker 5,297,252 Mar. 22, 1994
Jackson 5,432,508 Jul. 11, 1995
2
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