Object locator standing alone or embedded in the existing device

• US 20060132305A1
• Filed: 12/07/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Geng-Kaung Paul Ho
• Original Assignee: Geng-Kaung Paul Ho
• Inventors: Ho, Geng-Kaung Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,113,089 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.320
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/76 wherein pulse-type signals are transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/40 adjusting orientation of a single directivity characteristic to produce maximum or minimum signal, e.g. rotatable loop antenna or equivalent goniometer system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0255 System arrangements wherein the parent unit emits, i.e. the parent unit incorporates the emitter
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0263 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the direction in which child or item is located

Abstract

This invention provides an object locator to locate a variety of target objects. A selective directional transceiver is used to determine the relative direction of the target object, even in a multiple-story building, from a hand held component of the object locator. And moving the hand held component toward the target object according to the relative direction shall allow the user to quickly locate the target object. The hand held component may keep a list of identifications of multiple target objects in the memory and locate them one by one. A voice recognition unit and a key stroke recognition unit in the hand held component shall allow the user of the object locator to easily locate the object by voice and/or key stroke. To share the hardware, software, memory and the display unit of an existing device like cellular phone hand set, personal digital assistant, or car alarm remote, the object locator may be embedded in it, and expand its additional application.

Claims

1. An object locator comprising a responding component carried by or attached to the target object, consisting of an ID slot, an omni-directional transceiver means (with omni-directional antenna), a light unit, a sound unit, a lookup unit;

an external ID installation device; and

a hand held component consisting of an ID log, a display unit with light and sound functions, a selective directional transceiver means (with selective directional antenna), a setup unit, an searching unit, wherein;

A. said ID slot is to keep the identifications of the target object written by said an external ID installation device,

B. said omni-directional transceiver means is to;

a. receive a wireless wave of initial signal, and send the identification to said lookup unit to initiate the searching process;

b. receive a acknowledge signal from said lookup unit and send a wireless wave of acknowledge signal to said selective directional transceiver means if the identification in said initial signal matches the identification kept in said ID slot;

c. receive a wireless wave of ending signal and send it to said lookup unit to stop the searching process;

C. said light unit is to issue a series of lights which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

D. said sound unit is to issue a series of sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

E. said lookup unit is to;

a. receive said identification from said omni-directional transceiver means to initiate the searching process;

b. send said acknowledge signal to said hand held component through said omni-directional transceiver means, if said received identification matches the identification kept in said ID slot,

c. receive said ending signal from said omnidirectional transceiver means to stop said light unit and said sound unit;

d. cause said light unit and sound unit to issue a series of lights and sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave of initial signal;

F. said external ID installation device, which can be an independent computer system is to write the identification of the target object to said ID slot, by short distance wireless transferal, like infrared wave, or direct connection between said external ID installation device and said responding component;

G. said ID log is to keep one or more identifications of the target objects written by said setup unit;

H. said display unit with functions of light and sound is to convert said acknowledge signal to a displayable signal, a series of lights and sounds according to the strength of said acknowledge signal;

I. said selective directional transceiver means is to send said wireless wave of ending signal or said wireless wave of initial signal including the identification of the target object to said responding component, and to receive said wireless wave of acknowledge signal form said omni-directional transceiver means to trigger said display unit based on the strength of said acknowledge signal;

where in horizontal turning and vertical turning said selective directional transceiver means will locate the target objects at same horizontal level of space or even in a multiple level building;

J. said setup unit is to set up said ID log with identifications of the target objects;

K. said searching unit is to pick up the identification from said ID log and send it to said selective directional transceiver means for it to transfer said wireless wave of initial signal with the identification to said responding component;

5. the selective directional transceiver means of claim 1, further comprising wave shield to allow said antenna to receive or emit wireless wave in selective direction when used for object locating;

11. the hand held component of claim 1, further comprising a voice recognition means including a voice accept unit like microphone to accept the voice signal to locate the object;

15. the hand held component of claim 1, further comprising a key stroke recognition means including a key pad unit to accept the key stroke signal to locate the object;

2. an object locator embedded in a existing device like cellular phone set, personal digital assistant, or car alarm remote, to share its hardware, software, memory, etc., thus object locating expands an additional application of said existing device, comprising a responding component carried by or attached to the target object, consisting of an ID slot, an omni-directional transceiver means (with omni-directional antenna), a light unit, a sound unit, a lookup unit;

an external ID installation device; and

a hand held component consisting of an ID log, a display unit with light and sound functions, a selective directional transceiver means (with selective directional antenna), a setup unit, an searching unit, wherein;

A. said ID slot is to keep the identifications of the target object written by said an external ID installation device;

B. said omni-directional transceiver means is to;

a. receive a wireless wave of initial signal, and send the identification to said lookup unit to initiate the searching process;

b. receive a acknowledge signal from said lookup unit and send a wireless wave of acknowledge signal to said selective directional transceiver means if the identification in said initial signal matches the identification kept in said ID slot;

c. receive a wireless wave of ending signal and send it to said lookup unit to stop the searching process;

C. said light unit is to issue a series of lights which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

D. said sound unit is to issue a series of sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

E. said lookup unit is to;

a. receive said identification from said omni-directional transceiver means to initiate the searching process;

b. send said acknowledge signal to said hand held component through said omni-directional transceiver means, if said received identification matches the identification kept in said ID slot,

c. receive said ending signal from said omnidirectional transceiver means to stop said light unit and said sound unit;

d. cause said light unit and sound unit to issue a series of lights and sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave of initial signal;

F. said external ID installation device, which can be an independent computer system is to write the identification of the target object to said ID slot, by short distance wireless transferal, like infrared wave, or direct connection between said external ID installation device and said responding component;

G. said ID log is to keep one or more identifications of the target objects written by said setup unit;

H. said display unit with functions of light and sound is to convert said acknowledge signal to a displayable signal, a series of lights and sounds according to the strength of said acknowledge signal;

I. said selective directional transceiver means is to send said wireless wave of ending signal or said wireless wave of initial signal including the identification of the target object to said responding component, and to receive said wireless wave of acknowledge signal form said omni-directional transceiver means to trigger said display unit based on the strength of said acknowledge signal;

where in horizontal turning and vertical turning said selective directional transceiver means will locate the target objects at same horizontal level of space or even in a multiple level building;

J. said setup unit is to set up said ID log with identifications of the target objects;

K. said searching unit is to pick up the identification from said ID log and send it to said selective directional transceiver means for it to transfer said wireless wave of initial signal with the identification to said responding component;

6. the selective directional transceiver means of claim 2, further comprising wave shield to allow said antenna to receive or emit wireless wave in selective direction when used for object locating;

9. the selective directional transceiver means and omni-directional transceiver means of claim 2 further using the same working frequency on object locating which is different from the frequency of the exiting applications in cellular phone hand set;

12. the hand held component of claim 2, further comprising a voice recognition means including a voice accept unit like microphone to accept the voice signal to locate the object;

16. the hand held component of claim 2, further comprising a key stroke recognition means including a key pad unit to accept the key stroke signal to locate the object;

3. An object locator comprising an a hand held component consisting of an ID log, a display unit with light and sound functions, a selective directional transceiver means (with selective directional antenna), a setup unit, a searching unit;

and a responding component carried by or attached to the target, consisting of an ID slot, an omni-directional transceiver means (with omni-directional antenna), a light unit, a sound unit, a lookup unit;

wherein;

A. said ID log is to keep one or more identifications of the target objects written by said setup unit;

B. said display unit with functions of light and sound is to convert the acknowledge signal to a displayable signal, a series of lights and sounds according to the strength of said acknowledge signal;

C. said selective directional transceiver means is to;

a. to receive the identification from said setup unit or searching unit, and to format an initial signal with the identification of the target object and send wireless wave of it to said omni-directional transceiver means, to initiate the installation process or the searching process;

b. to receive wireless wave of said acknowledge signal from said omni-directional transceiver means of responding component and send said acknowledge signal to said display unit and trigger it;

wherein horizontal turning and vertical turning said selective directional transceiver means will help to locate the target objects at same horizontal level of space or even in a multiple level building;

c. send a wireless wave of ending signal to said omni-directional transceiver means to stop the searching process;

D. said setup unit is to write identifications of the target objects to said ID log and said ID slot;

E. said searching unit is to pick up the identification from said ID log and send it to said selective directional transceiver means for formatting a wireless wave of initial signal for installation process or searching process and transfer it to said responding component;

F. said ID slot is to keep the identifications of the target object, installed by said setup unit;

G. said an omni-directional transceiver means is to;

a. receive wireless wave of said initial signal with identification and installation process type or searching process type, and send it to said lookup unit to start installation process or searching process;

b. receive said acknowledge signal from said lookup unit and send said wireless wave of acknowledge signal to said selective directional transceiver;

c. receive a wireless wave of said ending signal and send it to said lookup unit to stop the searching process;

H. said light unit is to issue a series of lights which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave with initial signal;

I. said sound unit is to issue a series of sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave of initial signal;

J. said lookup unit is to;

a. write said identification in said initial signal of installation process received from said omni-directional transceiver means to said ID slot;

b. compare the identification in said initial signal of searching process received from said omni-directional transceiver means with the identification kept in the ID slot, and send wireless wave of said acknowledge signal to said hand held component through said omni-directional transceiver means, if both said identifications match each other;

c. receive said ending signal from said omni-directional transceiver means to stop said light unit and said sound unit;

d. cause said light unit and sound unit to issue a series of lights and sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

7. the selective directional transceiver means of claim 3, further comprising wave shield to allow said antenna to receive or emit wireless wave in selective direction when used for object locating;

13. the hand held component of claim 3, further comprising a voice recognition means including a voice accept unit like microphone to accept the voice signal to locate the object;

17. the hand held component of claim 3, further comprising a key stroke recognition means including a key pad unit to accept the key stroke signal to locate the object;

4. an object locator embedded in a existing device like cellular phone set, personal digital assistant, or car alarm remote to share its hardware, software, memory and the display unit, thus object locating expands as an additional application of said existing device, comprising an a hand held component consisting of an ID log, a display unit with light and sound functions, a selective directional transceiver means (with selective directional antenna), a setup unit, a searching unit;

and a responding component carried by or attached to the target, consisting of an ID slot, an omni-directional transceiver means (with omni-directional antenna), a light unit, a sound unit, a lookup unit;

wherein;

A. said ID log is to keep one or more identifications of the target objects written by said setup unit;

B. said display unit with functions of light and sound is to convert the acknowledge signal to a displayable signal, a series of lights and sounds according to the strength of said acknowledge signal;

C. said selective directional transceiver means is to;

a. to receive the identification from said setup unit or searching unit, and to format an initial signal with the identification of the target object and send wireless wave of it to said omni-directional transceiver means, to initiate the installation process or the searching process;

b. to receive wireless wave of said acknowledge signal from said omni-directional transceiver means of responding component and send said acknowledge signal to said display unit and trigger it;

wherein horizontal turning and vertical turning said selective directional transceiver means will help to locate the target objects at same horizontal level of space or even in a multiple level building;

c. send a wireless wave of ending signal to said omni-directional transceiver means to stop the searching process;

D. said setup unit is to write identifications of the target objects to said ID log and said ID slot;

E. said searching unit is to pick up the identification from said ID log and send it to said selective directional transceiver means for formatting a wireless wave of initial signal for installation process or searching process and transfer it to said responding component;

F. said ID slot is to keep the identifications of the target object, installed by said setup unit;

G. said an omni-directional transceiver means is to;

a. receive wireless wave of said initial signal with identification and installation process type or searching process type, and send it to said lookup unit to start installation process or searching process;

b. receive said acknowledge signal from said lookup unit and send said wireless wave of acknowledge signal to said selective directional transceiver;

c. receive a wireless wave of said ending signal and send it to said lookup unit to stop the searching process;

H. said light unit is to issue a series of lights which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave with initial signal;

I. said sound unit is to issue a series of sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said wireless wave of initial signal;

J. said lookup unit is to;

a. write said identification in said initial signal of installation process received from said omni-directional transceiver means to said ID slot;

b. compare the identification in said initial signal of searching process received from said omni-directional transceiver means with the identification kept in the ID slot, and send wireless wave of said acknowledge signal to said hand held component through said omni-directional transceiver means, if both said identifications match each other;

c. receive said ending signal from said omni-directional transceiver means to stop said light unit and said sound unit;

d. cause said light unit and sound unit to issue a series of lights and sounds which may vary depending on the strength of said initial signal;

8. the selective directional transceiver means of claim 4, further comprising wave shield to allow said antenna to receive or emit wireless wave in selective direction when used for object locating;

10. the selective directional transceiver means and omni-directional transceiver means of claim 4 further using the same working frequency on object locating which is different from the frequency of the exiting applications in cellular phone hand set;

14. the hand held component of claim 4, further comprising a voice recognition means including a voice accept unit like microphone to accept the voice signal to locate the object;

18. the hand held component of claim 4, further comprising a key stroke recognition means including a key pad unit to accept the key stroke signal to locate the object.