Radio-less self contained apparatus for rapidly thwarting theft of large trucks by terrorists or hijackers
First Claim
1. Apparatus for thwarting theft of a truck having a cab with a first area within which an authorized truck driver is present and a second area which may be occupied by a passenger comprising:
- (a) a truck disable device;
(b) first sensor means for producing maintain-truck-operative input signals in response to data inputted into said first sensor means by said authorized truck driver;
(c) data processor means coupled to said first sensor means for establishing a succession of test intervals and for enabling actuation of said truck disable device in the absence of receipt of said maintain-truck-operative input signals within a given test intervals; and
(d) second sensor means for causing said truck disable device to stop said truck upon detection of a person within said second area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A driver briefly places his hand upon a biometric hand reader once during each successive four minute recurrent time interval established by a microprocessor that continuous to produce a maintain-truck-operative signal to prevent truck disablement that would otherwise occur while driving. Should a hijacker drive the truck away and use the hand reader, the reader senses a mismatch, will cease to produce the maintain-truck-operative signal, and the truck will stop. The hijacker is prevented from occupying the cab and forcing the driver to drive and use the sensor by a switch-mat within the passenger area that senses the hijacker'"'"'s presence and disables the truck. A facial recognition reader will stop the truck if the driver is absent in an even faster manner, which is very important when a gasoline truck that is a bomb-on-wheels is stolen. More affordable data input sensors comprising a steering wheel pushbutton encoder are also disclosed.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Apparatus for thwarting theft of a truck having a cab with a first area within which an authorized truck driver is present and a second area which may be occupied by a passenger comprising:
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(a) a truck disable device;
(b) first sensor means for producing maintain-truck-operative input signals in response to data inputted into said first sensor means by said authorized truck driver;
(c) data processor means coupled to said first sensor means for establishing a succession of test intervals and for enabling actuation of said truck disable device in the absence of receipt of said maintain-truck-operative input signals within a given test intervals; and
(d) second sensor means for causing said truck disable device to stop said truck upon detection of a person within said second area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. Apparatus for thwarting theft of a truck having a cab with a first area within which a truck driver is present and a second area which may be occupied by a passenger comprising:
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(a) a truck disable device;
(b) sensor means for producing maintain-truck-operative input signals in response to data inputted into said sensor means by said truck driver during operation of said truck;
(c) data processor means coupled to said sensor means for establishing a succession of various test intervals during operation of said truck and for enabling actuation of said truck disable device in the absence of receipt of said maintain-truck-operative input signals within a given test intervals; and
(d) occupant control means for preventing a second person from occupying said second area during ongoing operation of said truck. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. Apparatus for thwarting theft of a truck having a cab with a first area within which an authorized truck driver is present and a second area which may be occupied by a passenger comprising:
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(a) a truck disable device;
(b) sensor means for producing maintain-truck-operative input signals in response to data inputted into said sensor means by said authorized truck driver during operation of said truck;
(c) data processor means coupled to said sensor means for establishing a succession of various test intervals, each being less than four minutes in duration, during operation of said truck and for actuating said truck disable device in the absence of receipt of said maintain-truck-operative input signals within a test intervals of less than four minutes in duration; and
(d) wherein said sensor means includes a biometric sensor selected from the group consisting of hand readers, fingerprint readers, and facial feature readers, thus enabling driver generation of said input signals easily and rapidly without the driver being distracted from viewing the road for the sake of safety. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. Apparatus for thwarting theft of a truck comprising:
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(a) a truck disable device;
(b) sensor means for producing maintain-truck-operative input signals in response to data inputted into said first sensor means by said authorized truck driver;
(c) data processor means coupled to said first sensor means for establishing a succession of test intervals during operation of said truck and for enabling actuation of said truck disable device in the absence of receipt of said maintain-truck-operative input signals within one or more of said test intervals; and
(d) wherein said sensor means includes a keyboard mounted upon a steering wheel of said truck for ease of entry of a code into said data processor means. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification