Location of missing vehicles
First Claim
1. Apparatus for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a GPS signal antenna and receiver/processor, connected to the antenna, attached to a vehicle, to receive and process GPS signals to determine the present location of the vehicle to which the antenna and receiver/processor are attached;
an event sensor that determines when a selected trigger event involving the vehicle has occurred and issuing a sensor output signal when that event occurs;
controller means, connected to the GPS receiver/processor and to the event sensor, for receiving the event sensor output signal and, in response thereto, for issuing a first output signal that is received by the GPS receiver/processor that commands the receiver/processor to determine and issue as an output signal the present location of the receiver/processor, and for receiving the receiver/processor output signal representing present location of the receiver/processor and issuing this present location information as a second output signal;
a cellular telephone, connected to the controller means, for receiving the controller means second output signal and, in response thereto, for transmitting the controller means second output signal to a selected telephone number; and
a power supply to deliver electrical power to at least one of the receiver/processor, the event sensor, the controller means and the cellular transmitter,where the receiver/processor, the event sensor, the controller means, and the cellular telephone are all carried on the vehicle whose present location is to be determined.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, such as an automobile or marine vessel, using a Global Positioning System that receives GPS signals from two or more GPS satellites. A GPS antenna, GPS signal receiver/processor, a paging responder, a cellular telephone and associated antenna, and a controller/modem are installed in a vehicle and electrically connected together. When the vehicle is determined to be missing, because the vehicle has been misplaced, lost or stolen, the vehicle owner or operator contacts a vehicle location service center, which broadcasts a paging request that is received by the paging responder on the vehicle. The paging responder causes the controller/modem to interrogate the GPS receiver/processor to determine the present location of the vehicle. The receiver/processor determines the present vehicle location and notifies the controller/modem of such location. The controller/modem then causes the cellular telephone to notify the vehicle location service center of the present location of the missing vehicle so that the vehicle can be recovered. The GPS signal receiver/processor and GPS antenna can be replaced by a receiver/processor and associated antenna that works with a LORAN system, or with a group of gyroscopes or local magnetic field sensors mounted on the vehicle. Optionally, the signal receiver/processor is kept in a "sleeper" mode to conserve power, until the controller/modem receives a paging request for its present location. Optionally, the receiver/processor is periodically activated to determine, and thus update, its present location. Optionally, the presence of the GPS antenna and/or the cellular telephone antenna on the vehicle is concealed. In another embodiment, a sensor is positioned on the vehicle, and the cellular telephone is caused to transmit to the vehicle location center a message containing information on the present location of the vehicle when the sensor senses occurrence of a selected trigger event, such as unauthorized movement of, or breaking into, the vehicle.
601 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
-
a GPS signal antenna and receiver/processor, connected to the antenna, attached to a vehicle, to receive and process GPS signals to determine the present location of the vehicle to which the antenna and receiver/processor are attached; an event sensor that determines when a selected trigger event involving the vehicle has occurred and issuing a sensor output signal when that event occurs; controller means, connected to the GPS receiver/processor and to the event sensor, for receiving the event sensor output signal and, in response thereto, for issuing a first output signal that is received by the GPS receiver/processor that commands the receiver/processor to determine and issue as an output signal the present location of the receiver/processor, and for receiving the receiver/processor output signal representing present location of the receiver/processor and issuing this present location information as a second output signal; a cellular telephone, connected to the controller means, for receiving the controller means second output signal and, in response thereto, for transmitting the controller means second output signal to a selected telephone number; and a power supply to deliver electrical power to at least one of the receiver/processor, the event sensor, the controller means and the cellular transmitter, where the receiver/processor, the event sensor, the controller means, and the cellular telephone are all carried on the vehicle whose present location is to be determined. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A method for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a vehicle location signal receiver/processor that receives position location signals from two or more location-sensing sensors located on the vehicle and uses these signals to determine the present location of the vehicle on which the antenna and the receiver/processor are located, where the receiver/processor comprises; a plurality of gyroscopes and associated vehicle angular orientation sensors attached to the vehicle to determine and issue output signals indicating the present angular orientation of the vehicle; a vehicle velocity sensor to determine and issue an output signal indicating the present velocity of the vehicle; and a signal processor that receives the output signals from the vehicle angular orientation sensors and the vehicle velocity sensor and determines the present location of the vehicle from these signals; providing the vehicle with a page responder to respond to a page request broadcast by a vehicle location service or paging service; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the page responder and the cellular telephone; when the vehicle is determined to be missing, causing the vehicle location service or paging service to broadcast a page requesting the present location of the missing vehicle; causing the page responder in the vehicle to receive the page request and, in response thereto, to cause the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the missing vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the missing vehicle.
-
-
4. A method for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a vehicle location signal receiver/processor that receives position location signals from two or more location-sensing sensors located on the vehicle and uses these signals to determine the present location of the vehicle on which the antenna and the receiver/processor are located, where the receiver/processor comprises; a plurality of local magnetic field angular orientation sensors attached to the vehicle to determine and issue output signals indicating the present angular orientation of the vehicle; a vehicle velocity sensor to determine and issue an output signal indicating the present velocity of the vehicle; and a signal processor that receives the output signals from the vehicle angular orientation sensors and the vehicle velocity sensor and determines the present location of the vehicle from these signals; providing the vehicle with a page responder to respond to a page request broadcast by a vehicle location service or paging service; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the page responder and the cellular telephone; when the vehicle is determined to be missing, causing the vehicle location service or paging service to broadcast a page requesting the present location of the missing vehicle; causing the page responder in the vehicle to receive the page request and, in response thereto, to cause the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the missing vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the missing vehicle.
-
-
5. A method for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a vehicle location signal receiver/processor that receives position location signals from two or more location-sensing sensors located on the vehicle and uses these signals to determine the present location of the vehicle on which the antenna and the receiver/processor are located, where the receiver-processor comprises; a plurality of gyroscopes and associated vehicle angular orientation sensors attached to the vehicle to determine and issue output signals indicating the present angular orientation of the vehicle; a vehicle velocity sensor to determine and issue an output signal indicating the present velocity of the vehicle; and a signal processor that receives the output signals from the vehicle angular orientation sensors and the vehicle velocity sensor and determines the present location of the vehicle from these signals; providing the vehicle with an event sensor to sense occurrence of a selected vehicle trigger event involving the vehicle; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the event sensor and the cellular telephone; when the sensor determines that a vehicle trigger event has occurred, causing the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the vehicle.
-
-
6. A method for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a vehicle location signal receiver/processor that receives position location signals from two or more location-sensing sensors located on the vehicle and uses these signals to determine the present location of the vehicle on which the antenna and the receiver/processor are located, where the receiver-processor comprises; a plurality of local magnetic field angular orientation sensors attached to the vehicle to determine and issue output signals indicating the present angular orientation of the vehicle; a vehicle velocity sensor to determine and issue an output signal indicating the present velocity of the vehicle; and a signal processor that receives the output signals from the vehicle angular orientation sensors and the vehicle velocity sensor and determines the present location of the vehicle from these signals; providing the vehicle with an event sensor to sense occurrence of a selected vehicle trigger event involving the vehicle; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the event sensor and the cellular telephone; when the sensor determines that a vehicle trigger event has occurred, causing the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the vehicle.
-
-
7. A method for determining the present location of a missing vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a LORAN signal antenna and receiver/processor, connected to the antenna, where the antenna and receiver/processor receive time-coded LORAN signals from a plurality of LORAN signal transmitters and determine the location of a selected vehicle vehicle location from these signals; providing the vehicle with a page responder to respond to a page request broadcast by a vehicle location service or paging service; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the page responder and the cellular telephone; when the vehicle is determined to be missing, causing the vehicle location service or paging service to broadcast a page requesting the present location of the missing vehicle; causing the page responder in the vehicle to receive the page request and, in response thereto, to cause the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the LORAN signal receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the missing vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for determining the present location of a vehicle that has been moved or tampered with in an unauthorized manner, the method comprising the steps of:
-
providing a vehicle with a vehicle location signal antenna and receiver/processor, connected to the antenna, where the vehicle location signal antenna and receiver/processor are drawn from the class consisting of (i) a GPS signal antenna and receiver/processor that receive time-coded GPS signals from one or more satellites and determine the present location of a selected vehicle from these signals and (ii) a LORAN signal antenna and receiver/processor that receive time-coded LORAN signals from a plurality of LORAN signal transmitters and determine the present location of a selected vehicle from these signals; providing the vehicle with an event sensor to sense occurrence of a selected vehicle trigger event involving the vehicle; providing the vehicle with a cellular telephone that may be activated to place a telephone call to a selected telephone number; providing the vehicle with a controller/modem that is electrically connected to, and controls the operation of, the receiver/processor, the event sensor and the cellular telephone; when the sensor determines that a vehicle trigger event has occurred, causing the controller/modem to interrogate the receiver/processor concerning the present location of the vehicle; causing the receiver/processor to obtain information on the present location of the vehicle and to provide this information for the controller/modem; and causing the controller/modem to cause the cellular telephone to contact a selected vehicle location service or paging service and to communicate information on the vehicle present location to the vehicle location service or paging service, whereby information on the present location of the vehicle is made available to an owner or operator of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
Specification