Vehicle security system
First Claim
1. A vehicle security system comprising:
- a plurality of sensors, each one corresponding to a condition of a vehicle on which said system is installed and providing a sensor output signal indicative of said vehicle condition;
a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which each said plurality of sensor output signals are monitored for an intrusion indicating condition and a disarmed mode of operation in which each of said sensor outputs are not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller having a plurality of programmable features, each one having a corresponding plurality of selections associated therewith, said controller being responsive to a sequencing signal for sequencing through said plurality of programmable features and a selection signal for choosing one of said plurality of selections;
a display providing a different indication corresponding to each of said plurality of selections of each of said plurality of programmable features; and
a remote control operable for communication with said controller and having a control for selecting said armed mode of operation and said disarmed mode of operation,wherein said control also generates said selection signal.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle security system including a remote control communicating with the system via an RF link for remotely arming and/or disarming the system. Modes of system operation include an armed mode in which sensor outputs are monitored for intrusion indicating conditions and an RF receiver is monitored for remote commands, an alarm mode in which a siren is sounded in response to a detection of an intrusion indicating condition during the armed mode, a disarmed mode in which sensor monitoring for intrusion conditions is disabled, a programming mode in which features of the system are programmable, a valet mode in which only selected sensor outputs are monitored, and a pre-arming mode following system disarming and prior to passive arming, in which the door switch is monitored. A display facilitates programming by providing an indication of the present position within the programming sequence. A customizable auxiliary feature is operable with the remote control during both the armed and disarmed modes and is disabled during the valet mode of operation. The remote control includes a combination vehicle locator/personal safety feature and a power reserving time-out feature. The remote control battery status is indicated both on the remote and on a display located in the vehicle. The vehicle security system includes a memory device for storing system status information so that, upon power up, the system resumes the mode of operation preceding the previous power interruption. The programmable features include adjustable siren chirp volume and selectable siren alarm patterns.
286 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one corresponding to a condition of a vehicle on which said system is installed and providing a sensor output signal indicative of said vehicle condition; a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which each said plurality of sensor output signals are monitored for an intrusion indicating condition and a disarmed mode of operation in which each of said sensor outputs are not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller having a plurality of programmable features, each one having a corresponding plurality of selections associated therewith, said controller being responsive to a sequencing signal for sequencing through said plurality of programmable features and a selection signal for choosing one of said plurality of selections; a display providing a different indication corresponding to each of said plurality of selections of each of said plurality of programmable features; and a remote control operable for communication with said controller and having a control for selecting said armed mode of operation and said disarmed mode of operation, wherein said control also generates said selection signal. - View Dependent Claims (3, 6, 8)
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2. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one corresponding to a condition of a vehicle on which said system is installed and providing a sensor output signal indicative of said vehicle condition; a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which each said plurality of sensor output signals are monitored for an intrusion indicating condition and a disarmed mode of operation in which each of said sensor outputs are not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller having a plurality of programmable features, each one having a corresponding plurality of selections associated therewith, said controller being responsive to a sequencing signal for sequencing through said plurality of programmable features and a selection signal for choosing one of said plurality of selections; a display providing a different indication corresponding to each of said plurality of selections of each of said plurality of programmable features; and a siren for providing a chirp sound and an alarm sound, wherein said plurality of programmable features includes an adjustable chirp volume feature having a corresponding plurality of selections comprising different chirp volumes, and a selectable alarm sound feature having a corresponding plurality of selections comprising different alarm sounds. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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7. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one corresponding to a condition or a vehicle on which said system is installed and providing a sensor output signal indicative of said vehicle condition; a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which each said plurality of sensor output signals are monitored for an intrusion indicating condition and a disarmed mode of operation in which each of said sensor outputs are not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller having a plurality of programmable features, each one having a corresponding plurality of selections associated therewith, said controller being responsive to a sequencing signal for sequencing through said plurality of programmable features and a selection signal for choosing one of said plurality of selections; and a display providing a different indication corresponding to each of said plurality of selections of each of said plurality of programmable features; wherein said controller is operable in a diagnostic mode of operation in which said sensor output signals are monitored to verify operability of said sensors and wherein one of said plurality of programmable features is a diagnostic mode feature having a plurality of selections comprising different diagnostic routines in which different ones of said sensor output signals are monitored to verify operability.
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9. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a sensor for sensing a condition associated with said vehicle and for providing an output signal indicative of said condition; a controller responsive to an operational mode command when said controller is in a first state for entering an armed mode of operation, said controller receiving said sensor output signal and providing a first siren control signal when said security system is in said armed mode of operation and said sensor output signal is indicative of an intrusion and providing a second siren control signal in response to said operational mode command; a siren, receiving said first and second siren control signals and providing a chirp sound having a predetermined volume in response to said second siren control signal and at least one pattern in response to said first siren control signal; and a remote control in communication with said controller for generating said operational mode command, wherein said chirp volume is adjusted in response to said operational mode command when said controller is in a second state.
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10. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a sensor for sensing a condition associated with said vehicle and for providing an output signal indicative of said condition; a controller responsive to an operational mode command for entering an armed mode of operation in which said sensor output signal is monitored for an intrusion indicating condition, said controller providing a first siren control signal when said security system is in said armed mode of operation and said sensor output signal is indicative of said intrusion indicating condition, wherein said controller provides a second siren control signal in response to said operational mode command; a siren receiving said first and second siren control signals and providing a chirp sound having a predetermined volume in response to said second siren control signal and at least one pattern in response to said first siren control signal, wherein said at least one pattern is operator-selectable from a plurality of patterns including different alarm sounds; and a remote control in communication with said controller for generating said operational mode command, wherein said at least one pattern is selectable in response to a programming signal generated by said remote control. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a controller for providing a first siren control signal in response to a condition of said vehicle being indicative of an intrusion; a siren responsive to said first siren control signal for providing an alarm sound, said alarm sound having a first predetermined duration; and a remote control having a control actuable to communicate with said controller, said remote control providing a locate signal in response to a first manner of actuation of said control and a panic signal in response to a second manner of actuation of said control, wherein said controller provides second and third siren control signals to activate said siren in response to said panic and locate signals, said second and third siren control signals corresponding to second and third predetermined durations of said alarm sound; wherein said first manner of actuation of said control is continuous actuation for less than a predetermined duration and said second manner of actuation of said control is continuous actuation for greater than said predetermined duration. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors each one sensing a condition associated with said vehicle and providing an output signal indicative of said condition; and a controller operable in an armed mode in which each of said plurality of sensor output signals is monitored for an intrusion indicating condition, an alarmed mode in which an alarm sound is provided to indicate the occurrence of said intrusion indicating condition during said armed mode and a disarmed mode in which said plurality of sensor output signals is not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller further being operable in a diagnostic mode of operation in which the operability of a selectable one of said plurality of sensors is tested, without entering said alarmed mode of operation; wherein said diagnostic mode of operation comprises a plurality of diagnostic routines, each one corresponding to different selected ones of said ports. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one sensing a condition associated with said vehicle and providing output signal indicative of said condition; a controller operable in an armed mode in which each of said plurality of sensor output signals are monitored for an intrusion indicating condition, an alarmed mode in which an alarm sound is provided to indicate the occurrence of said intrusion indicating condition during said armed mode, and a disarmed mode in which said plurality of sensor output signals are not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition, said controller further being operable in a diagnostic mode of operation in which the operability of at least one of said plurality of sensors is tested, without entering said alarmed mode of operation, wherein said controller has a plurality of ports, each one corresponding to at least one of said plurality of sensors, and wherein said controller monitors a selected one of said ports during said diagnostic mode of operation, wherein said diagnostic mode of operation comprises a plurality of diagnostic routines, each one corresponding to different selected ones of said ports; and a remote control in communication with said controller for selecting one of said diagnostic routines.
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17. A vehicle security system comprising:
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A plurality sensors, each one sensing a condition associated with said vehicle and providing an output signal indicative of said condition; a controller operable in an armed mode in which each of said plurality of sensor output signals is monitored for an intrusion indicating condition, an alarmed mode in which an alarm sound is provided to indicate the occurrence of said intrusion indicating condition during said armed mode, a disarmed mode in which said plurality of sensor output signals is not monitored for said intrusion indicating condition and a diagnostic mode in which the operability of a selectable one of said plurality of sensors is tested, without entering said alarmed mode of operation; and a siren operable to provide said alarm sound in the alarmed mode and to provide a diagnostic-indicator sound, wherein the operability of said selectable one of said plurality of sensors is indicated in the diagnostic mode by activation of said siren to provide said diagnostic-indicator sound.
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18. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a controller for providing an alarm signal in response to a condition of said vehicle being indicative of an intruder to said vehicle when said system is in an armed mode of operation; a remote control, having an RF generator for generating an RF signal for communicating with said controller, said RF signal providing data bursts with a predetermined format; and an RF receiver circuit receiving said RF signal from said remote control to provide a pair of signals to said controller, a first one of said signals containing replicas of said bursts of said RF signal generated by said remote control and a second one of said signals providing a verification that said replicas of said data bursts of said first signal have said predetermined format; wherein said RF receiver circuit includes a pair of comparators each one having an input coupled to said received RF signal through a receiver and a corresponding capacitor, wherein the time constant established by said capacitor corresponding to said first comparator is faster than the time constant established by said capacitor corresponding to said second comparator, and wherein said first signal is provided at the output of said first comparator and said second signal is provided at the output of said second comparator. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one providing a corresponding sensor output signal indicative of a vehicle intrusion; an auxiliary vehicle component operable in response to an auxiliary command, wherein said auxiliary command causes at least one of said plurality of sensor output signals to indicate a vehicle intrusion; a controller operable in an armed mode of operation and having means for identifying the at least one of said plurality of sensor output signals that the auxiliary command causes to indicate a vehicle intrusion, said controller for providing an alarm signal in response to one or more of said plurality of sensor output signals being indicative of said intrusion unless said identifying means identifies said one or more of said plurality of sensor output signals indicative of said intrusion as the at least one of said plurality of sensor output signals that the auxiliary command causes to indicate a vehicle intrusion.
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22. A vehicle security system installed on a vehicle having at least one door with a door switch, the state of said door switch indicating whether said at least one door is open, a dome light activated in response to said door switch indicating that said at least one door is open, and an ignition, said vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one providing an output signal indicative of an intrusion to said vehicle; and a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which said sensor output signals are monitored for said intrusion and a disarmed mode of operation in which said sensor output signals are not monitored for said intrusion, wherein said controller activates said dome light when said disarmed mode of operation is entered or when said ignition is turned off for a predetermined interval and periodically deactivates said dome light during said interval to monitor said door switch.
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23. A vehicle security system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors, each one providing an output signal indicative of an intrusion to said vehicle; a controller operable in an armed mode of operation in which said output signals from said plurality of sensors are monitored to detect said intrusion and a disarmed mode of operation in which said output signals from said sensors are not monitored to detect said intrusion; and a remote control in communication with said controller to select said armed mode of operation or said disarmed mode of operation, wherein said controller operates in accordance with a clock signal to process said remote control communication, said clock signal being established by a resistor, a capacitor, and a calibration factor related to the difference between a preliminary clock signal established by said resistor and said capacitor and a reference clock signal.
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Specification