Parking meter smart housing with electronic memory

Abstract

The invention is directed to an electronic parking meter and a method of configuring an electronic parking meter. In addition to a meter housing and an electronic metering mechanism within the housing, the parking meter includes a memory positioned within the housing separate from the electronic metering mechanism for storing configuration information associated with a pre-selected group of one or more electronic meters. When the electronic metering mechanism is replaced, the replacement metering mechanism that is inserted into the housing need only be coupled to the separate memory in order to have the configuration information of the specific meter downloaded into it. The configuration information includes parking meter location information and/or parking restriction information. The separate memory, which may include a real time clock chip and may alternately be located in the meter's electronic lock, can also be used to store current meter status information that is accessible from the exterior of the meter housing.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.