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Retrofittable vehicle collision warning apparatus

  • US 6,696,931 B2
  • Filed: 08/24/2001
  • Issued: 02/24/2004
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/23/1998
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A vehicle collision warning apparatus that warns an operator of obstacles in the vicinity of a vehicle, comprising:

  • a base unit located within a cabin of said vehicle that accepts operator commands, controls operation of said collision warning apparatus, and communicates obstacle position information to said operator; and

    a remote unit located around a periphery of said vehicle that respond to inputs from said base unit, measures the distance between said vehicle and said obstacles, and communicates said obstacle position information to said base unit through a wireless communication link, the remote unit including a battery and electronic circuitry that generally operates in a low-power sleep mode and periodically switches to a higher-power momentary active mode of relatively brief duration to listen for a makeup signal from the base unit, the remote unit'"'"'s electronic circuitry switching to a fully active mode of limited duration if the wakeup signal is detected and returning to the low-power sleep mode if no wakeup signal is detected.

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