Locator System

• US 20120139758A1
• Filed: 11/28/2011
• Published: 06/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Control Module, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Control Module, Inc.
• Inventors: Bianco, James S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,058,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/933
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A locator system employs personal communicators which are carried on or worn in a holster by drivers. The communicators are employed to automatically transmit data for determining the identity of the driver, the identity of the vehicle and date and time stamps when the vehicle enters and exits various detection zones. In one embodiment the detections zones are defined by Bluetooth signals.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring the location of a driver and a vehicle comprising:

providing controlled access to a rack of personal electronic communicators;

entering a driver ID;

confirming the validity of the driver ID;

entering the driver ID on a selected communicator;

removing the selected communicator from the rack;

placing the communicator in a holster worn by the driver;

using the communicator to identify a vehicle to be driven by the driver;

driving the vehicle from a first zone to a second zone;

detecting the exit from said first zone and automatically transmitting exit data from said communicator to a processor;

detecting the entrance to said second zone and automatically transmitting entrance data from said communicator to said processor; and

processing said exit data and entrance data to determine transit time of said vehicle from said first zone to said second zone.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of said first and second zones is defined by Bluetooth signals.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said communicator further comprises a GPS and further comprising automatically transmitting signals from said communicator indicative of the location of said vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising automatically sequentially transmitting location signals at pre-established time intervals.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said exit data and said entrance data each comprises a date and time stamp, a driver ID and a vehicle ID.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising entering the print of a driver in a bioreader to confirm authorization for said driver.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising detecting the exit of the vehicle from said second zone and automatically transmitting second zone exit data from said communicator to said processor to determine the time said vehicle is in said second zone.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting SMS messages to said communicator.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transmitting exit data and entrance data from said communicator is undertaken by SMS communication.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising returning said selected communicator to a rack and automatically transmitting information concerning the return of the selected communicator to said rack.

11. A method of monitoring the location of a driver and a vehicle comprising:

controllably accessing a plurality of personal electronic communicators;

entering a driver ID;

confirming the validity of the driver ID;

entering the driver ID on a selected communicator;

taking possession of the selected communicator by a driver;

using the communicator to identify a vehicle to be driven by the driver;

driving the vehicle from a first zone to a second zone;

automatically detecting the exit from said first zone and automatically transmitting exit data from said communicator to a remote receiver; and

automatically detecting the entrance to said second zone and automatically transmitting entrance data from said communicator to said remote receiver.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein each of said first and second zones is defined by Bluetooth signals.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said communicator further comprises a GPS and further comprising automatically transmitting location signals indicative of the location of said vehicle from said communicator to said remote processor.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising sequentially transmitting location signals at pre-established time intervals.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said exit data and said entrance data each comprises a date and time stamp, a driver ID, a vehicle ID and a location signal.

16. A method of monitoring the location of a driver and a vehicle comprising:

selecting a personal electronic communicator from a plurality of personal electronic communicators;

entering a driver ID on the selected communicator;

releasing the selected communicator for usage by the driver;

using the selected communicator to identify a vehicle to be driven by the driver;

driving the vehicle from a first zone to a second zone while the driver has the selected communicator;

automatically detecting the exit of the vehicle from said first zone and automatically transmitting exit data from said communicator to a remote processor; and

automatically detecting the entrance of the vehicle into said second zone and automatically transmitting entrance data from said communicator to said remote processor.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein each of said first and second zones is defined by Bluetooth signals.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said selected communicator further comprises a GPS and further comprising automatically transmitting location signals from said selected communicator indicative of the location of said vehicle.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising sequentially transmitting location signals at pre-established time intervals.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said exit data and said entrance data each comprise a date and time stamp, a driver ID a vehicle ID and a location signal.

21. A method of monitoring the location of a driver and a vehicle comprising:

entering a driver ID on a communicator;

releasing the communicator for usage by the driver;

using the communicator to identify a vehicle to be driven by the driver;

attaching the communicator to the driver;

driving the vehicle to enter a first zone while the communicator is attached to the driver;

automatically detecting the entrance of the vehicle into said first zone and automatically transmitting entrance data from the communicator to a remote processor;

driving the vehicle to exit said zone while the communicator is attached to the driver; and

automatically detecting the exit from said zone and automatically transmitting exit data from said communicator to said remote processor.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising processing said entrance data and said exit data to determine the time interval of said vehicle in said zone.