Vehicle activity tracking

• US 6,789,013 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2002
• Issued: 09/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teletrac Navman US Ltd. (Vontier Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Navman NZ Limited (Brunswick Corporation)
• Inventors: Annett, David Allan, Swarbrick, David Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thu V.
• Application Number:
  US10/105,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20020156576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• Field of Search: 701/213, 701/215, 342/74, 342/82, 342/89-90, 342/357.12, 342/359, 342/357-6-3, 342/385, 342/400, 342/406, 342/423, 342/430, 342/434, 342/436-437, 342/444-445, 342/463-465, 343/711-718, 343/853, 343/872-876, 343/893, 343/879
• US Class Current: 701/213
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/35 Constructional details or hardware or software details of the signal processing chain
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/36 relating to the receiver frond end
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/04 for varying one co-ordinate of the orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0407 Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40

Abstract

A unitary vehicle tracking device having a GPS receiver, a radio transmitter, which preferably is a mobile phone modem integrated within a single waterproof housing suitable for mounting on the top exterior of the vehicle. The housing is transparent to radio signals and the GPS and mobile phone antennas are mounted on a common board above the other components. Preferably the mobile phone antenna is of the halo type and is mounted above and in registration with the GPS antenna so as not to interfere with the field of view of the GPS antenna.

Claims

1. A vehicle tracking apparatus comprising:

a GPS receiver,

a processor which receives and stores vehicle position data from said receiver,

a radio transmitter activated by said processor and modulated with at least the vehicle position data stored by said processor,

a GPS antenna and a halo antenna connected to said radio transmitter, configured and juxtaposed such that physical and radio interference between said antennas is minimised, and

a waterproof housing adapted for mounting on the exterior of a vehicle in which the GPS receiver, the processor, the radio transmitter, the GPS antenna and the halo antenna are mounted,

said apparatus requiring only an external source of power to operate.

2. The vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said halo antenna is mounted over and in registration with said GPS antenna such that the GPS antenna view is not impeded by the halo antenna.

3. The vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a power source for said GPS receiver, said processor and said transmitter mounted within said housing.

4. A vehicle tracking apparatus comprising:

a GPS receiver,

a radio transmitter activated by said processor and modulated with at least the vehicle position data provided by said GPS receiver,

a GPS antenna and a halo antenna connected to said radio transmitter, configured and juxtaposed such that physical and radio interference between said antennas is minimised, and

a waterproof housing adapted for mounting on the exterior of a vehicle or other mobile object in which the GPS receiver, the radio transmitter, the GPS antenna and the halo antenna are mounted.

5. The vehicle tracking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said halo antenna is mounted over and in registration with said GPS antenna such that the GPS antenna view is not impeded by the halo antenna.