Portable emergency vehicle demonstration system

• US 9,767,703 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2015
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emergency Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Emergency Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Garza, Manuel, Baker, Douglas V., Lavelette, Jonathan J., Buehler, William S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hung T
• Application Number:
  US14/961,258
• Publication Number:
  US 20160159278A1
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• Field of Search: 340463, 340468, 340471, 340472, 340331, 340332, 340473, 340908
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2611 Indicating devices mounted on the roof of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/007 using microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/52 Testing for short-circuits, leakage current or ground faults
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/00 Simulators for teaching or training purposes for the use of weapons F41; computing aspects G06; protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality H04L67/131

Abstract

A portable emergency vehicle demonstration system can include an enclosure having a base and a cover mounted thereto, wherein the cover is movable between an opened position and a closed position, a set of functional warning units arranged within the enclosure, wherein the arrangement of the set of functional warning units represents an emergency vehicle, and a controller arranged within the enclosure and configured to operate the set of function warning units according to a set of predetermined signaling patterns.

Claims

1. A portable emergency vehicle demonstration system, comprising:

an enclosure having a base and at least a partial cover mounted thereto, wherein the cover is movable between an opened position and a closed position;

a set of functional warning units arranged within the enclosure, wherein an arrangement of the set of functional warning units represents an emergency vehicle; and

a controller arranged within the enclosure and configured to operate the set of function warning units according to a set of predetermined signaling patterns;

wherein the enclosure includes a front a front portion, a middle portion, and a rear portion, and the set of functional warning units includes a headlight, a light bar, and a tail light, and wherein the front portion includes the headlight, the middle portion includes the light bar, and the rear portion includes the tail light.

2. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 further comprising a networked device external to the enclosure and communicatively coupled with the controller.

3. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 2 wherein the networked device includes a visual representation of an emergency vehicle.

4. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 3 wherein the visual representation of the emergency vehicle includes a visual representation of the set of functional warning units.

5. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 4 wherein the networked device is configured to instruct the controller to operate at least one of the set of predetermined signaling patterns while contemporaneously operating a same predetermined signaling pattern on the visual representation of the set of function warning units.

6. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 2 wherein the networked device comprises at least one of a laptop, a smart phone, or a tablet.

7. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 2 wherein the networked device is networked by way of a wired or wireless communication network.

8. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 7 wherein the networked device is networked by way of the Internet.

9. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 2 wherein the networked device is simultaneously networked with a first controller having a first set of functional warning units and a second controller having a second set of functional warning units.

10. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 9 wherein the networked device operably controls the first and second controllers to operate a common predetermined signaling pattern on the respective first and second sets of functional warning units.

11. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 9 wherein the networked device operably controls the second controller to operate at least one of the set of predetermined signaling patterns in response to the first controller operating at least one of the set of predetermined signaling patterns.

12. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 further comprising a self-contained network coupling the controller with the set of functional warning units, wherein the self-contained network is configured to communicate at least one network message generated in the controller to the set of functional warning units.

13. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 12 wherein the self-contained network is at least one of a local interconnect network (LIN), controller area network (CAN), or wireless local area network (WLAN).

14. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 12 wherein the controller is further configured to generate a desired state of the set of functional warning units and encode the desired state into a packet, and the encoded packet is delivered to the set of functional warning units by way of the self-contained network.

15. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 14 wherein the set of functional warning units are configured to parse the desired state of each respective functional warning unit in the encoded packet, and set the state of each of the set of functional warning units based on the parsed encoded packet.

16. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 further including an input configured to generate a set of simulated vehicle state inputs and provide the simulated vehicle state input to the controller.

17. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 16 wherein the controller is further configured to operate the set of function warning units in response to the simulated vehicle state input.

18. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 wherein the set of functional warning units includes a lightbar representative of an emergency vehicle lightbar.

19. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 18 wherein the lightbar is movable between a first position for transporting the demonstration system and a second position representative of a lightbar configuration on an emergency vehicle.

20. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 19 wherein the lightbar is movable to a second position oriented relative to a front portion of the enclosure and a rear portion of the enclosure, such that the front portion, lightbar, and rear portion visually correspond with an emergency vehicle.

21. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 wherein the set of function warning units includes at least one of a visual signal, an audible signal, a lightbar assembly, a siren, a directional lighting element, a headlight, a perimeter lighting element, a public address system, an air horn, a load light, a set of dash light, or a traffic arrow.

22. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 wherein the enclosure includes a handle configured to support the enclosure when the cover is in the closed position.

23. The portable emergency vehicle demonstration system of claim 1 wherein the enclosure is less than 1.30 meters long, less than 0.38 meters wide, and less than 0.15 meters tall.

24. A portable emergency vehicle demonstration system, comprising:

an enclosure having a base defining a front portion, a middle portion, and a rear portion, and at least a partial cover mounted thereto, wherein the cover is movable between an opened position and a closed position;

a set of functional warning units arranged within the enclosure, the set of functional warning units including at least a headlight, a light bar, and a tail light, wherein the arrangement of the set of functional warning units represents an emergency vehicle, and wherein the lightbar is adapted to be movable between a first position for transporting the demonstration system and a second position representative of a lightbar configuration on an emergency vehicle; and

a controller arranged within the enclosure and configured to operate the set of function warning units according to a set of predetermined signaling patterns;

wherein the front portion includes the headlight, the middle portion includes the light bar, and the rear portion includes the tail light such that the front portion, middle portion, and rear portion are adapted to visually correspond with an emergency vehicle.