HIGHWAY DISTRESS SYSTEM

• US 3,828,306 A
• Filed: 01/08/1973
• Issued: 08/06/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Paul Angeloni
• Original Assignee: Paul Angeloni
• Inventors: Angeloni, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Claffy, Kathleen H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Myers, Randall P.
• Application Number:
  US05/321,818
• Time in Patent Office: 575 Days
• Field of Search: 340/22,23,24,32,33 343/1CS,112PT,112TC 325/111,117
• US Class Current: 340/990
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental

Abstract

A system for noting the existence of a distress-condition of an automobile (or other vehicle) and for locating the automobile relative to monitoring stations. The system employs a transmitter in the vehicle in distress, which is adapted to send a multidirectional signal indicative of the nature of the trouble to a limited geographical area around the vehicle. A plurality of radio direction finder stations in said region position the vehicle in difficulty and the vehicle driver is notified of that fact and is given any other pertinent information. The portion of the system on the vehicle has both a transmitter and a receiver which are automatically rendered effective as alternate conditions of system operation, thereby to send out distress information and to receive related information as alternate situations.

Claims

1. A system for noting the existence of a distress condition of a motor vehicle and the location of the vehicle within a limited geographical area, that comprises:

transceiver means on the vehicle operable to transmit a multidirectional R.F. signal from the vehicle to a limited geographical area around the vehicle, the transmitter portion of the transceiver being low power of the order of 10 watts and the signal frequency being at least the order of 450MHz to assure limited transmission range of the signal, the occurrence of the signal being an indication of a distress-condition of the vehicle, said transceiver means also being operable to receive an R.F. incoming signal, timer means operable to cause the transceiver automatically to transmit and to receive R.F. signal as alternate conditions of transceiver operation, said transceiver means having means to override the automatic cycle to permit voice frequency transmission only or voice frequency receiving only;

a plurality of radio direction finding devices adapted to receive the signal transmitted by the transceiver and to locate the source of the transmitted signal in terms of the direction thereof from each device; and

display means to permit plotting the direction of the source of the signal from each radio direction finding device and, thus, permit determination of the vehicle location.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the distress-condition of the vehicle is due to either a breakdown or an accident and in which means is provided to modulate the signal with predetermined different modulations depending upon the type of distress-condition encountered.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the RF signal transmitter is limited by its transmitted frequency and power to a locally effective range of the order of 10 to 15 miles from the vehicle.