Automatic vehicle logging system and method
First Claim
1. An automatic vehicle logging system comprising:
- a camera unit adapted to be disposed on a vehicle, said camera unit being adapted to obtain image data;
a processor unit coupled to said camera; and
a data storage unit coupled to said processor unit, said data storage unit being adapted to store samples of said image data; and
a detector unit coupled to said processor;
said detector unit being adapted to detect driving condition data related to the driving conditions of the vehicle;
wherein said processor unit controls said storing of said image data by said data storage unit as a function of said driving condition data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A camera may be disposed near a license plate receiving portion of a vehicle and samples of image data obtained by the camera are stored in a storage unit. The storing of image samples only begins when the vehicle comes close to another vehicle or object, or when the brakes are forcefully activated. The rate at which the samples are stored may be varied as a function of the distance between the vehicle and another object, such as or example, a vehicle. The storing of image samples ends when the storage unit is full after the occurrence of an accident has been detected by a detector such as an impact detector, a hard-braking detector, an airbag inflation detector, a proximity detector or a sound detector. The stored image data, along with other saved data may be accessed by a person such as a police officer or insurance agent.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An automatic vehicle logging system comprising:
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a camera unit adapted to be disposed on a vehicle, said camera unit being adapted to obtain image data;
a processor unit coupled to said camera; and
a data storage unit coupled to said processor unit, said data storage unit being adapted to store samples of said image data; and
a detector unit coupled to said processor;
said detector unit being adapted to detect driving condition data related to the driving conditions of the vehicle;
wherein said processor unit controls said storing of said image data by said data storage unit as a function of said driving condition data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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24. An automatic vehicle logging system comprising:
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a camera unit disposed proximate a license plate receiving portion of a vehicle, said camera unit being adapted to obtain image data;
a processor unit coupled to said camera; and
a data storage unit coupled to said processor unit, said data storage unit being adapted to store samples of said image data;
wherein said processor unit controls said storing of said image data by said data storage unit.
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26. An automatic vehicle logging system comprising:
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a vehicle license plate;
a camera unit, said camera unit being adapted to obtain image data;
a processor unit coupled to said camera;
wherein said camera unit is disposed in said vehicle license plate and said processor unit is disposed in said vehicle license plate; and
a data storage unit coupled to said processor unit, said data storage unit being adapted to store samples of said image data;
wherein said processor unit controls said storing of said image data by said data storage unit.
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27. A method for logging vehicle data, said method comprising:
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obtaining samples of image data via a camera unit adapted to be disposed on a vehicle; and
detecting driving condition data related to driving conditions of the vehicle; and
storing samples of said image data in a data storage unit, said samples being stored at a sampling rate;
wherein said obtaining and storing are controlled by a processor unit coupled to said camera unit and said data storage unit as a function of said driving condition data.
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34. The method of 33, further comprising:
varying said trigger distance as a function of a speed of the vehicle.
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44. An automatic vehicle logging system comprising:
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means for obtaining image data;
means for processing data coupled to said means for obtaining image data; and
means for storing samples of said image data, said means for storing samples of said image data being coupled to said means for processing; and
means for detecting driving condition data related to the driving conditions of the vehicle, said means for detecting driving condition data related to the driving conditions of the vehicle being coupled to said means for processing;
wherein said means for processing controls said storing of said image data by said means for storing as a function of said driving condition data. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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Specification