Communication device and car finder system

• US 9,037,081 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2013
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Tanaka, Yasuhiro, Nagai, Nobuyoshi, Nasu, Shouji
• Primary Examiner(s): GONZALES, APRIL GUZMAN
• Application Number:
  US13/760,398
• Publication Number:
  US 20130210342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/41.1
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A car finder system has a portable terminal that receives a preset operation performed thereon for wirelessly transmitting a preset car finder instruction. A communication device of the car finder system receives the preset car finder instruction from the portable device, and repeatedly transmits a preset car finder signal to an in-vehicle device, which is disposed in a vehicle. The in-vehicle device performs an external notification operation when it receives the preset car finder signal. The communication device ends the transmission of the preset car finder signal when a predetermined condition is met.

Claims

1. A communication device carried by a user for communicating with a portable terminal carried by the user and for communicating with an in-vehicle device disposed in a vehicle and that provides an external notification based on a preset car finder signal transmitted by the communication device, the communication device comprising:

a wireless receiver wirelessly receiving a car finder instruction transmitted from the portable terminal based on a preset operation performed on the portable terminal; and

a wireless transmitter wirelessly transmitting the preset car finder signal to the in-vehicle device in a repeated manner based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver.

2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein

the wireless receiver receives the car finder instruction from the portable terminal by communicating with the portable terminal according to a near field communication standard, such that the portable terminal serves as a sender of the car finder instruction.

3. The communication device of claim 1, wherein

the wireless transmitter starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal after a preset time has lapsed from the reception of the car finder instruction.

4. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising:

an input operation unit operable by the user, wherein

the wireless transmitter starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on a preset operation performed on the input operation unit.

5. The communication device of claim 1, wherein

the wireless transmitter starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on a preset cancel signal from the in-vehicle device of the vehicle.

15. The car finder system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter wirelessly transmits the preset car finder signal to the in-vehicle device intermittently in the repeated manner.

16. The car finder system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter automatically transmits the preset car finder signal in the repeated manner.

17. The car finder system of claim 1, wherein the preset operation is performed once to cause the wireless transmitter to wirelessly transmit the preset car finder signal in the repeated manner.

18. The car finder system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter automatically repeats the transmission of the preset car finder after a predetermined period of time.

6. A car finder system comprising:

an in-vehicle device disposed in a vehicle;

a portable terminal wirelessly transmitting a car finder instruction based on a preset operation performed by a user; and

a communication device including a wireless receiver and a wireless transmitter, the wireless receiver wirelessly receiving the car finder instruction transmitted from the portable terminal based on the preset operation performed on the portable terminal, and the wireless transmitter wirelessly transmitting a preset car finder signal to the in-vehicle device in a repeated manner based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, wherein

the in-vehicle device provides an external notification when it receives the preset car finder signal from the communication device.

7. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein

the wireless receiver of the communication device receives the car finder instruction from the portable terminal by communicating with the portable terminal according to a near field communication standard, such that the portable terminal serves as a sender of the car finder instruction.

8. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein

the wireless transmitter of the communication device starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal after a preset time has lapsed from the reception of the car finder instruction.

9. The car finder system of claim 6 further comprising:

an input operation unit operable by the user, wherein

the wireless transmitter of the communication device starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on a preset operation performed on the input operation unit.

10. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein

the wireless transmitter starts a repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on the car finder instruction received by the wireless receiver, and ends the repeated transmission of the preset car finder signal based on a preset cancel signal from the in-vehicle device of the vehicle.

11. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein the wireless transmitter wirelessly transmits the preset car finder signal to the in-vehicle device intermittently in the repeated manner.

12. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein the wireless transmitter automatically transmits the preset car finder signal in the repeated manner.

13. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein the preset operation of the user is performed once to cause the wireless transmitter to wirelessly transmit the preset car finder signal in the repeated manner.

14. The car finder system of claim 6, wherein the wireless transmitter automatically repeats the transmission of the preset car finder after a predetermined period of time.