AFTERMARKET TELEMATICS UNIT AND METHOD FOR DETECTING A TARGET MOUNTING ANGLE THEREOF

• US 20130115933A1
• Filed: 11/04/2011
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: OWENS, KEVIN W., VIDETICH, MATT C., SAUERBREY, STEVEN S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,942,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72421 with automatic activation of emergency service functions, e.g. upon sensing an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/725 Cordless telephones user interfaces specially adapted therefor H04M1/724

Abstract

An aftermarket telematics unit is disclosed herein. The aftermarket telematics unit includes, but is not limited to a housing that is configured to be mounted to an internal surface of a vehicle. The aftermarket telematics unit further includes an angle detection unit that is associated with the housing and that is configured to detect a mounting angle of the housing. The aftermarket telematics unit still further includes a processor that is associated with the housing. The processor is configured to perform an initial configuration procedure and is further configured to discontinue the initial configuration procedure when the mounting angle is out of a target range.

Claims

1. An aftermarket telematics unit comprising:

a housing configured to be mounted to an internal surface of a vehicle;

an angle detection unit associated with the housing and configured to detect a mounting angle of the housing; and

a processor associated with the housing, the processor configured to perform an initial configuration procedure and further configured to discontinue the initial configuration procedure when the mounting angle is out of a target range.

2. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, wherein the angle detection unit is configured to detect the mounting angle when the aftermarket telematics unit is initially connected to an electric power source.

3. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an electronic storage unit communicatively coupled with the processor,

wherein the angle detection unit is communicatively coupled with the processor and is further configured to send the processor a message containing information indicative of the mounting angle, and

wherein the processor is further configured to utilize the information to provide a signal in response to the mounting angle.

4. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to instruct the electronic storage unit to store a first electronic data file containing information indicative of the mounting angle being out of the target range, and further configured to utilize the first electronic data file during the initial configuration procedure to determine whether to discontinue the initial configuration procedure.

5. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an electronic storage unit communicatively coupled with the processor,

wherein the angle detection unit is communicatively coupled with the processor and is further configured to send the processor a message indicative of the mounting angle, and

wherein the processor is further configured to instruct the electronic storage unit to store a first electronic data file containing information indicative of the mounting angle in response to receiving the message from the angle detection unit, to access the first electronic data file during the initial configuration procedure, and to utilize the information during the initial configuration procedure to determine whether the mounting angle is out of the target range.

6. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, further comprising:

an electronic storage unit communicatively coupled with the angle detection unit and with the processor,

wherein the angle detection unit is further configured to instruct the electronic storage unit to store a first electronic data file containing information indicative of the mounting angle, and

wherein the processor is further configured to access the first electronic data file during the initial configuration procedure and to utilize the information to determine whether the mounting angle is out of the target range.

7. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit an alert when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

8. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 7, further comprising:

an illumination element operatively coupled with the processor and configured to illuminate when actuated by the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to instruct the illumination element to illuminate when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

9. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 7, further comprising:

a wireless communications unit operatively coupled with the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to control the wireless communications unit to transmit the alert when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

10. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 9, wherein the wireless communications unit is configured to facilitate communications between the processor and a call center, and wherein the processor is further configured to control the wireless communications unit to transmit the alert to the call center.

11. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the mounting angle is out of the target range by determining whether the mounting angle deviates from a predetermined angle by greater than a predetermined amount.

12. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a rear view mirror and wherein the internal surface comprises a front windshield.

13. An aftermarket telematics unit comprising:

a housing configured to be mounted to an internal surface of a vehicle;

an electronic storage unit associated with the housing;

an angle detection unit communicatively coupled with the electronic storage unit, the angle detection unit configured to detect a mounting angle of the housing and to instruct the electronic storage unit to store a first electronic data file containing information indicative of the mounting angle; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the electronic storage unit,

wherein the electronic storage unit is configured to store a second electronic data file containing information relating to a plurality of target mounting angles, and wherein the processor is configured to perform an initial configuration procedure, to retrieve the first electronic data file and the second electronic data file stored in the electronic storage unit during the initial configuration procedure, to determine whether the mounting angle is out of a target range using the first electronic data file and the second electronic data file, and to discontinue the initial configuration procedure when the mounting angle is out of the target range.

14. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 13, wherein the second electronic data file contains the plurality of target mounting angles.

15. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 13, wherein the second electronic data file contains information relating to a single target mounting angle and an predetermined deviation from the single target mounting angle.

16. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit an alert when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

17. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 16, further comprising:

an illumination element operatively coupled with the processor and configured to illuminate when actuated by the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to instruct the illumination element to illuminate when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

18. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 16, further comprising:

a wireless communications unit operatively coupled with the processor,

wherein the processor is further configured to control the wireless communications unit to transmit the alert when the initial configuration procedure has been discontinued.

19. The aftermarket telematics unit of claim 18, wherein the wireless communications unit is configured to facilitate communications between the processor and a call center, and wherein the processor is further configured to control the wireless communications unit to transmit the alert to the call center.

20. A method for detecting a target mounting angle of an aftermarket telematics unit, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting, with an angle detection unit of the aftermarket telematics unit, a mounting angle of the aftermarket telematics unit;

commencing, with a processor, an initial configuration procedure to place the aftermarket telematics unit in a state of operational readiness;

determining, with the processor, whether the mounting angle is out of a target range; and

discontinuing, with the processor, the initial configuration procedure when the mounting angle is target.