Combined garage door and keyless entry fob
First Claim
1. A combined fob having vehicle keyless entry functions and garage door (GD) opener functions, comprising:
- a receiver adapted to receive a GD activate signal directly from a GD opener;
a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to control the operation of the fob;
a user operated switch coupled to the processor, wherein the switch is adapted to permit the user to input at least ‘
enter GD learn mode’ and
‘
GD activate’
commands for the GD opener function and other commands for the keyless entry functions;
a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to send vehicle keyless entry signals to a vehicle and GD activate signals to a GD actuation mechanism in response to user operation of the one or more user operated switches;
a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store signal parameters of the GD activate signal received by the receiver, wherein the parameters are sufficient to allow the transmitter to replicate the GD activate signal under the direction of the processor;
wherein in response to an ‘
enter GD learn mode’
command input via the one or more user operated switches, the processor is configured to start a timer setting a period during which the receiver can receive a GD activate signal from the GD opener, wherein the received GD activate signal is analyzed to extract its signal parameters which are then stored in the memory thereby completing the learn mode; and
wherein the GD activate signal parameters are thereafter retrieved by the processor in response to an ‘
GD activate’
command entered by the user into the one or more user operated switches and used to control the transmitter to transmit a replica of the GD activate signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for a combined vehicle keyless entry and garage door (GD) opener fob. The fob comprises a receiver, transmitter, processor, memory, user activated function switches, and preferably a display. In a GD function learn mode, the fob memorizes the signal parameters of a GD activate signal received directly from a nearby GD opener. In the normal GD operate mode, the fob transmits a replica of the GD activate signal using the learned signal parameters stored in the memory. The optional display preferably tells the user that the learn mode is active, prompts the user to operate the nearby GD opener during the learn mode, indicates whether the learn operation was successful or not and shows when the fob has returned to normal (non-learn mode) operation. The GD modes of the fob are entirely self-contained and do not depend upon the vehicle electronics system.
36 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A combined fob having vehicle keyless entry functions and garage door (GD) opener functions, comprising:
-
a receiver adapted to receive a GD activate signal directly from a GD opener;
a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to control the operation of the fob;
a user operated switch coupled to the processor, wherein the switch is adapted to permit the user to input at least ‘
enter GD learn mode’ and
‘
GD activate’
commands for the GD opener function and other commands for the keyless entry functions;
a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to send vehicle keyless entry signals to a vehicle and GD activate signals to a GD actuation mechanism in response to user operation of the one or more user operated switches;
a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store signal parameters of the GD activate signal received by the receiver, wherein the parameters are sufficient to allow the transmitter to replicate the GD activate signal under the direction of the processor;
wherein in response to an ‘
enter GD learn mode’
command input via the one or more user operated switches, the processor is configured to start a timer setting a period during which the receiver can receive a GD activate signal from the GD opener, wherein the received GD activate signal is analyzed to extract its signal parameters which are then stored in the memory thereby completing the learn mode; and
wherein the GD activate signal parameters are thereafter retrieved by the processor in response to an ‘
GD activate’
command entered by the user into the one or more user operated switches and used to control the transmitter to transmit a replica of the GD activate signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for operating a wireless fob having keyless vehicle entry functions and garage door (GD) activation functions, comprising:
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determining whether the fob has entered a GD learn mode, and if NO (FALSE), continuing or resuming normal operation, and if YES (TRUE), then;
maintaining the fob in the GD learn mode up to a predetermined learn mode time interval T2 while waiting for receipt of a GD activate signal directly from a GD opener;
determining whether the fob has received the GD activate signal during learn mode time interval T2, and if NO (FALSE), exiting the learn mode, and if YES (TRUE), then;
analyzing the received GD activate signal to determine parameters characterizing the GD activate signal to permit later replication of the signal by the fob;
thenstoring the parameters characterizing the GD activate signal in memory; and
exiting the GD learn mode and resuming normal operation of the fob. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A combined vehicle keyless entry and garage door (GD) opener fob, comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive GD activate signals directly from a GD opener during a GD function learn mode of the fob;
a processor coupled to the receiver configured to analyze the GD activate signals received by the receiver directly from the GD opener, to obtain the GD activate signal parameters;
a memory coupled to the processor configured to store the GD activate signal parameters determined by the processor;
a transmitter coupled to the processor configured to transmit in response to a user command a replica of the received GD activate signal based on the parameters stored in the memory; and
a user activated function switch configured to place the fob in the GD function learn mode and thereafter to cause the fob to transmit the replica of the GD activate signal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method of operating a self-contained combined vehicle keyless entry and garage door (GD) opener fob, comprising:
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in a learning mode, receiving a GD activate signal directly from a nearby GD opener;
analyzing the received GD activate signal in the fob to determine its parameters so as to permit subsequent replication thereof by the fob;
storing the GD activate signal parameters in memory in the fob thereby completing the learning mode; and
thereafter using the stored parameters on user command to cause the fob to transmit a replica of the GD activate signal - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification