Stolen vehicle tracking system and stolen vehicle tracking method

• US 20040010370A1
• Filed: 07/07/2003
• Published: 01/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Iijima, Youichi
• Granted Patent: US 6,898,514 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/214
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates

Abstract

A stolen vehicle tracking apparatus 1 is disclosed including a communication enable area discriminating and processing section 7 discriminating whether communication is available between an own vehicle 102 and a service center 103, and a control section 12 which controls so as to interrupt given information from being transmitted when discriminated by the communication enable area discriminating and processing section 7 that no availability of communication is established.

Claims

1. A stolen vehicle tracking apparatus comprising:

an on-vehicle transmitter transmitting given information to a base station in occurrence of an own vehicle being stolen;

a communication enable area discriminator discriminating to find whether communication is available between the own vehicle and the base station; and

a controller controlling the on-vehicle transmitter so as to interrupt the given information from being transmitted when discriminated by the communication enable area discriminator that the own vehicle stands outside of a communication area.

2. The stolen vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the communication enable area discriminator monitors a communication status every for given time intervals even in a transmission interruptive state;

and

the controller transmits the given information to the base station when communication is made available.

3. The stolen vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a speed detector detecting an own vehicle speed; and

wherein when discriminated that communication is made available between the own vehicle and the base station, the communication enable area discriminator alters a time interval, for which the given information is transmitted, in dependence on the own vehicle speed detected by the speed detector.

4. The stolen vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the communication enable area discriminator sets the time interval, for which the given information is transmitted, to be a shortened time interval in occurrence of the own vehicle speed exceeding a given speed.

5. The stolen vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the communication enable area discriminator sets the time interval, for which the given information is transmitted, to be an extended time interval in occurrence of the own vehicle speed falling to be less than a given speed.

6. The stolen vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the speed detector measures the own vehicle speed depending on the amount of displacement of an own vehicle location per unit time.

7. A stolen vehicle tracking apparatus comprising:

on-vehicle transmitting means for transmitting given information to a base station in occurrence of an own vehicle being stolen;

communication enable area discriminating and processing means for discriminating to find whether communication is available between the own vehicle and the base station; and

control means controlling the on-vehicle transmitting means so as to interrupt the given information from being transmitted when discriminated by the communication enable area discriminating and processing means that the own vehicle stands outside of a communication area.

8. A method of tracking a stolen vehicle in occurrence of an own vehicle being stolen, the method comprising:

transmitting given information to a base station in occurrence of an own vehicle being stolen;

discriminating whether communication is available between an own vehicle and the base station; and

interrupting the given information from being transmitted when discriminated that the own vehicle stands outside of a communication area.