Surveillance system for vehicles that captures visual or audio data
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A surveillance system for vehicles comprising:
- a sensor for mounting to the vehicle to detect an impact on the vehicle of a predetermined force;
at least one camera for mounting to the vehicle to produce video signals of images around the vehicle;
a recorder coupled to the at least one camera to record video signals received from the at least one camera;
a timer, coupled to the recorder, that activates the recorder to stop recording the video signals from the camera a predetermined time after the sensor detects impacts on the vehicle having the predetermined force; and
a switch, coupled to the timer and the recorder, that powers off the recorder after the predetermined time has expired.
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Abstract
A surveillance system is mounted to a vehicle to record visual or audio data of areas in and around the vehicle. In the event of an impact on the vehicle, a sensor determines the level of impact (202). If the level of impact is of a predetermined force, then the sensor activates a cut-off timer to stop the recorder from recording a predetermined time after the impact (204). If there are multiple impacts on the vehicle of at least the predetermined force, then the cut-off timer is reset to add time to the predetermined time based on the number of impacts of the predetermined force (206, 208).
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A surveillance system for vehicles comprising:
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a sensor for mounting to the vehicle to detect an impact on the vehicle of a predetermined force;
at least one camera for mounting to the vehicle to produce video signals of images around the vehicle;
a recorder coupled to the at least one camera to record video signals received from the at least one camera;
a timer, coupled to the recorder, that activates the recorder to stop recording the video signals from the camera a predetermined time after the sensor detects impacts on the vehicle having the predetermined force; and
a switch, coupled to the timer and the recorder, that powers off the recorder after the predetermined time has expired. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
a first analog-toigital converter that converts the video signals from analog data to digital video data and a second analog-to-digital converter that converts the audio signals from analog data to digital audio data; and
a memory that stores at least one of digital video data and digital audio data.
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6. The system of claim 5 wherein the recorder further comprises a disk storage unit for storing the digital video data.
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7. The system of claim 5 wherein the recorder further comprises a display for viewing the video images.
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8. The system of claim 5 further comprising a user input device coupled to the recorder.
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9. The system of claim 8 wherein the user input device is a keyboard.
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10. The system of claim 5 wherein the recorder further comprises a wireless interface to transmit the digital video data and the digital audio data to a remote receiver.
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11. A method for recording data in a surveillance system for vehicles, the method comprising:
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A) recording visual data from at least one camera by a recorder;
B) detecting a first impact on a vehicle of predetermined force;
C) enabling the recorder to stop recording a first predetermined time after the first impact of predetermined force;
D) detecting a second impact on the vehicle of predetermined force;
B) enabling the recorder to stop recording a second predetermined time after the second impact of predetermined force; and
F) powering off the recorder after expiration of one of the first and the second predetermined times. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A surveillance system for vehicles comprising:
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a sensor for mounting to the vehicle to detect an impact on the vehicle of a predetermined force;
at least one microphone for mounting to the vehicle to produce audio signals of sounds around the vehicle;
a recorder coupled to the at least one microphone to record audio signals received from the at least one microphone;
a timer, coupled to the recorder, that activates the recorder to stop recording the audio signals from the microphone a predetermined time after the sensor detects impacts on the vehicle having the predetermined force; and
a switch, coupled to the recorder, that powers off the recorder after the predetermined time has expired. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
a first analog-to-digital converter that converts the video signals from analog data to digital video data and a second analog-to-digital converter that converts the audio signals from analog data to digital audio data; and
a memory that stores one of the digital video data and the digital audio data.
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21. The system of claim 20 wherein the recorder further comprises a disk storage unit for storing one of the digital video data and the digital audio data.
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22. The system of claim 20 wherein the recorder further comprises a display for viewing the video images.
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23. The system of claim 20 further comprising a user input device coupled to the recorder.
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24. The system of claim 20 wherein the recorder further comprises a wireless interface to transmit the digital video data and the digital audio data to a remote receiver.
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25. A method for recording data in a surveillance system for vehicles, the method comprising:
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A) recording audio data from a microphone by a recorder;
B) detecting a first impact on a vehicle of predetermined force;
C) enabling the recorder to stop recording a first predetermined time after the first impact of predetermined force;
D) detecting a second impact of predetermined force;
E) enabling the recorder to stop recording a second predetermined time after the second impact; and
F) powering off the recorder after expiration of one of the first and the second predetermined times. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification