Emergency vehicle video and lighting support

• US 20110134244A1
• Filed: 11/01/2010
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James Leonard Tidgwell
• Original Assignee: James Leonard Tidgwell
• Inventors: Tidgwell, James Leonard
• Granted Patent: US 8,564,665 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/148
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

My idea either adds lights and cameras to existing lights and cameras, or in some cases it adds a whole new system. The idea can be used on any vehicle, but is designed for emergency vehicles in particular. The idea would be very beneficial in dark areas like in the country. The system could be very advantageous at night for accident scenes, crime scenes, etc. I know it will be a great asset.

Claims

1. I claim the benefits of the filing date Dec. 4, 2009 on provisional patent application 61/283451:

Page 5 shows drawing 1 of 8. This page shows the units and their functions. Component A shows the cigarette lighter adapter which plugs into the lighter hole or the auxiliary hole on the dash. This is where the power comes from to energize the system. This adapter has one male which plugs into the dash. On the other end of the adapter are two female sockets. Coming out of the adapter A are two male cigarette lighter plug-ins, each having a wire coming out of them. These plugins are B and C. The wire from B goes directly to the 12v dc lights. This wire is spliced at V to give power to both lights. The wire from C goes to an inverter D where the 12v dc is changed to 110v ac to power the monitor through wire F. Component D has two wires coming out of it One of the wires goes to component E which is a converter which changes it back to 12v dc. This wire gives power to the cameras. The cameras in my prototype are 170 degree cameras. The other wire F powers the monitor which lets the person see what the cameras are seeing. The monitor is connected via video cable to G which is the DVR.

Wire E is connected to a splitter which has one wire in and is split into four wires out for use in up to four cameras. Each of these wires is connected to the power side of each Siamese cable. Leaving G are two BNC or video cables which are connected to I, which is the video side of the Siamese cable. One of the wires from E goes to the RCA or power side of the Siamese cable. These two cables join internally at J. After leaving J, the single wire L goes to K where it is split into a power side and a video side. Camera P has one wire coming out This wire is split at O where it becomes an RCA or power side which is M, and a BNC or video side, which is N. These two wires are connected video to video and power to power. At this point the system is ready for use.

2. I claim the benefits of the filing date of Dec. 4, 2009 on provisional patent number 61/283451.

I claim that the:

Emergency Vehicle Video and Lighting Support is a method of video taping and storing events on emergency vehicles or any other vehicles. The system uses added lights and cameras to record events for use on emergency vehicles or any other vehicles. The system needs a power supply which comes directly from the battery or the wiring harness. The system utilizes electrical wiring, electrical cables, audio and video cables, a video monitor, a recording device, an image capturing device, a monitor, voltage inverters, and voltage converters. It can be run totally on a 12v dc system if the monitor is a 12v dc model. The monitor is preinstalled on most squad cars and my idea would be wired into the existing system. The system could be wireless, whereas some of these components could be eliminated.

The video capturing device is usually a camera. These extra lights and cameras will be mounted on the light bar. They will have to be protected from the elements and possibly other objects like tree branches, brush, or any other object that might be contacted if a pursuit goes off road. This could be accomplished by using glass or plastic. The recording device could be a DVD, DVR, or direct satellite feed to a main computer.

I think this idea will be of great benefit to law enforcement in particular and all emergency vehicles in general or any other vehicle. Law enforcement would benefit from my idea. There would be very little or no “

blind spots”

. If there are any questions to an arrest, the procedure would be a record to be utilized as needed. In the case of an ambulance, firetruck, or any other emergency vehicles, the extra lighting would be very beneficial in dark or remote areas.

The recording could be used if there are any discrepancies as far as procedures. The law enforcement agencies I have talked to or shown it to have been very receptive to the idea and have seen no down sides to the concept. I think my idea is very plausible and very usable, and a great benefit to users of emergency vehicles or any other vehicles. One other vehicle of particular interest is School Buses.