TRAFFIC LAW VIOLATION RECORDING AND TRANSMITTING SYSTEM

• US 20080068461A1
• Filed: 09/11/2006
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Doron Izakov
• Original Assignee: Doron Izakov
• Inventors: Izakov, Doron
• Granted Patent: US 7,489,257 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0891 Video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/054 photographing overspeeding vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

Presented herein is a system that enables a vehicle operator to record continuous images of surrounding traffic activity, wherein the vehicle is equipped with a video camera 20 for continuously recording the vehicle surroundings. The system further comprises a marking switch 42 that enables the vehicle operator, upon viewing a possible traffic violation, to trigger a marking module 40; a marking module 40 that identifies and marks, in real-time, at least one location of the video recording that relates to the at least one possible traffic violation committed by at least one other vehicle operator; a portable storage device 30; an editing module 50 for preparing recorded segments for transmission, which include at least one recording portion that appears before the added mark and at least one recording portion that appears after the added mark; and a communication module 60 for transmitting the prepared recording segments to a designated server.

Claims

1. A system that enables a conventional vehicle operator to record continuous images of the surrounding traffic activity, wherein the vehicle is equipped with a video camera that captures continuous recordings of the vehicle surroundings, said system comprising:

a marking switch that enables the vehicle operator, upon viewing a possible traffic violation committed by at least one other vehicle operator, to trigger a marking module;

a marking module for identifying and marking in real-time at least one location of the continuous camera recording that relates to the at least one possible traffic violation committed by at least one other vehicle operator;

an editing module for preparing recorded segments for transmission, wherein said recorded segments include at least one recording portion that appears before the added mark and at least one recording portion that appears after the added mark;

a storage device for storing at least one portion of the camera recordings; and

a communication module for transmitting the prepared recording segments to a designated server.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the editing module and communication module are located within the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the editing module and communication module are located at an external computing terminal.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the editing module is located within the vehicle and the communication module is located at an external computing terminal.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the storage device is portable and detachably connected to the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the camera is further equipped with a wide angle lens.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the captured images are automatically stored to a large capacity storage device, capable of storing at least one hour of images.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the prepared recording segments are automatically stored to the storage device.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the marking switch is one of a least a toggle switch, a push button switch, a slide switch, a rocker switch, a voice-activated switch, a rotary switch, and a tactile switch.

10. A system of claim 1 wherein the edited segments are defined in accordance with predefined periods.

11. A system of claim 1 that further includes a location identification module for identifying a specific location of the marked film.

12. A method that enables a conventional vehicle operator to record continuous images of the surrounding traffic activity, wherein the vehicle is equipped with a video camera that captures continuous recordings of the vehicle surroundings, said method comprising the steps of:

marking at least one portion of the recorded activities that depicts at least one possible traffic violation committed by at least one other vehicle operator,

adding marks in real-time to the continuous video recording;

preparing the recorded video segments for transmission, wherein said segments include at least one recording portion that appears before the added mark and at least one recording portion that appears after the added mark;

storing at least one portion of the camera recording; and

transmitting the stored recordings to a designated server.

13. A method of claim 12 further comprising the step of detaching the storage device, moving it to an external computing device, and connecting it to the external computing device, wherein the editing and transmitting steps are preformed at the external commuting device.

14. A method of claim 12, wherein the editing of the video segments is performed at the vehicle and the transmitting is performed through a wireless communication network directly from the vehicle to a designated device.

15. A method of claim 12, wherein the storage device is connected to a computer that transmits the at least one edited recording through a communication network.

16. A method of claim 12 wherein the edited video segments are defined in accordance with predefined time periods.