Anti-theft and anti-hijacking system for motor vehicles
First Claim
1. A system for preventing the theft or hijacking of a motor vehicle having an engine and a driver'"'"'s seat, said system comprising:
- a fuel cut-off valve operative to stop the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine, said fuel cut-off valve being in communication with the vehicle ignition such that when the vehicle ignition is actuated, said fuel cut-off valve will stop the flow of fuel to the engine;
a vehicle run switch in communication with said fuel cut-off valve, said vehicle run switch being operative to prevent said fuel cut-off valve from stopping the flow of fuel when said vehicle ignition is actuated;
a driver'"'"'s seat sensing apparatus operative to sense when a driver'"'"'s body has been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat of the vehicle;
a control apparatus in communication with said driver'"'"'s seat sensing apparatus and said cut off valve, said control apparatus being operative to time a predetermined delay period after said seat sensing apparatus determines that the driver'"'"'s body had been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat for a minimum time period, and to cause said fuel cut off valve to stop the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine at the end of said predetermined delay period.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for preventing theft and hijacking of a motor vehicle. The system comprises a fuel cut-off valve operative to prevent the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine. The fuel cut-off valve is in communication with the vehicle ignition such that activation of the vehicle ignition will cause the fuel cut-off valve to close, unless a vehicle run switch is actuated contemporaneous with or immediately after the vehicle ignition. The vehicle run switch is preferably concealed from view and/or coded and/or keyed to limit its accessibility to only authorized operators of the vehicle. Additionally, to prevent hijacking, the system incorporates a driver'"'"'s heat sensor capable of sensing when a human body is seated in the driver'"'"'s seat. When the sensor determines that the driver'"'"'s body has been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat for more than a minimum time period (e.g., 3 seconds) a controller/timer will begin timing a predetermined delay period. At the end of the delay period, the controller/timer will cause the fuel cut-off valve to stop the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine, thereby stalling the engine. The delay period is preferably long enough to allow the vehicle to be driven a safe distance away from the scene of the hijacking.
19 Citations
46 Claims
-
1. A system for preventing the theft or hijacking of a motor vehicle having an engine and a driver'"'"'s seat, said system comprising:
-
a fuel cut-off valve operative to stop the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine, said fuel cut-off valve being in communication with the vehicle ignition such that when the vehicle ignition is actuated, said fuel cut-off valve will stop the flow of fuel to the engine; a vehicle run switch in communication with said fuel cut-off valve, said vehicle run switch being operative to prevent said fuel cut-off valve from stopping the flow of fuel when said vehicle ignition is actuated; a driver'"'"'s seat sensing apparatus operative to sense when a driver'"'"'s body has been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat of the vehicle; a control apparatus in communication with said driver'"'"'s seat sensing apparatus and said cut off valve, said control apparatus being operative to time a predetermined delay period after said seat sensing apparatus determines that the driver'"'"'s body had been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat for a minimum time period, and to cause said fuel cut off valve to stop the flow of fuel to the vehicle engine at the end of said predetermined delay period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method for preventing the hijacking of a motor vehicle having an engine and a driver'"'"'s seat, said method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) providing a cut-off valve operative to stop the running of the vehicle engine; (b) providing a sensor apparatus for sensing when a driver is seated in the driver'"'"'s seat of the vehicle; (c) providing a hijack criteria which, when sensed by said sensing apparatus, will be taken as an indication that the vehicle has been hijacked; (d) providing a control apparatus in communication with said sensing apparatus and said cut-off valve, said control apparatus being operative to begin timing a predetermined delay period when said sensing apparatus senses said hijack criteria, and to cause said cut-off valve to stop the running of the vehicle engine at the end of said predetermined delay period; (e) sensing, via said sensor apparatus, when a driver has been removed from the driver'"'"'s seat of the vehicle, and thereby causing said control apparatus to time said predetermined delay period, and to subsequently cause said cut-off valve to stop the running of the vehicle engine, at the end of said delay period. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A method for preventing the theft of a motor vehicle having an engine, an ignition, a fuel conduit which carries fuel to the engine, and a driver'"'"'s seat, said method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) providing a cut-off valve operative to prevent the running of the vehicle engine; (b) providing a vehicle run switch which, when actuated contemporaneous with or immediately after actuation of the vehicle ignition, will cause said cut-off valve to be open, thereby permitting said vehicle engine to run; (c) in the event that the vehicle ignition is actuated without actuation of said vehicle run switch, causing said cut-off valve to close, thereby preventing said vehicle engine from running. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
-
Specification