Emergency reporting system and terminal apparatus therein

• US 6,262,655 B1
• Filed: 02/24/2000
• Issued: 07/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ichikawa, Yukio, Yoshioka, Kenji, Kurosawa, Arata
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T.
• Application Number:
  US09/512,215
• Time in Patent Office: 509 Days
• Field of Search: 340/425.5, 340/426, 340/990, 340/539, 379/404, 379/442, 379/564
• US Class Current: 340/425.5
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/52 for indicating emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12

Abstract

An emergency reporting apparatus for a vehicle includes a memory storing information representing a telephone number of an emergency report receiving center. Connection with the emergency report receiving center is implemented in response to the telephone number represented by the information in the memory. An emergency can be reported to the emergency report receiving center. The information in the memory can be updated to change the telephone number represented thereby.

Claims

1. An emergency reporting apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a detachable external memory device storing data related to an emergency report;

first means for reading out the data from the detachable external memory device;

second means for reporting an emergency to an emergency report receiving center in response to the data read out by the first means;

a main battery;

an auxiliary battery;

third means for detecting whether or not a voltage of the main battery drops below a reference level;

fourth means for replacing the main battery with the auxiliary battery when the third means detects that the voltage of the main battery drops below the reference level; and

fifth means for recording information of replacement of the main battery with the auxiliary battery on the detachable external memory device.

2. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for, in cases where the first means fails to read out the data from the detachable external memory device, informing a user of the failure.

3. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for recording information of a history of an emergency report and a history of an abnormality of an emergency report on the detachable external memory device.

4. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for detecting an abnormality, and seventh means for, when the sixth means detects an abnormality, recording information of the abnormality detected by the sixth means on the detachable external memory device.

5. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for, in cases where the first means fails to read out the data from the detachable external memory device, generating substitute data, and seventh means for reporting an emergency to the emergency report receiving center in response to the substitute data generated by the sixth means.

6. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for transmitting the data, which is read out from the detachable external memory device by the first means, to the emergency report receiving center when the second means reports an emergency to the emergency report receiving center.

7. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising sixth means for transmitting the data, which is read out from the detachable external memory device by the first means, to the emergency report receiving center when the second means reports an emergency to the emergency report receiving center, wherein the data transmitted to the emergency report receiving center by the sixth means contains information related to a vehicle passenger.

8. An emergency reporting apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising a sensor for sensing a fingerprint and generating data representing the sensed fingerprint, and sixth means for transmitting the data of the fingerprint, which is generated by the sensor, to the emergency report receiving center when the second means reports an emergency to the emergency report receiving center.