Surveillance apparatus for a vehicle
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A surveillance apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- an outside rearview mirror defining an aperture therethrough;
a camera having a field of regard with a plurality of fields of view from the vehicle, the camera disposed in the outside rearview mirror and adjustably configured to collect selected images from the plurality of fields of view through the aperture;
a storage apparatus in electrical communication with the camera, the storage apparatus configured to record and store the images collected by the camera for a period of time;
at least one sensor disposed about the vehicle and configured for sensing extra-vehicular information selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, date, time, pavement conditions, brightness and combinations thereof;
an interface device in communication with the at least one sensor and the storage apparatus and configured for providing the extra-vehicular information and vehicle drive train activity data to the storage apparatus; and
a control apparatus in electronic communication with the camera and the storage apparatus, the control apparatus configured to activate the camera and storage apparatus and adjust the field of regard of the camera to record the selected images from the plurality of fields of view.
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Abstract
A surveillance apparatus is provided for a vehicle to record data such as images over a period of time. The surveillance apparatus has a camera for collecting images in a field of view from the vehicle and a storage apparatus to record and store the data. A method of surveilling a vehicle operating area using the surveillance apparatus is also disclosed.
237 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A surveillance apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an outside rearview mirror defining an aperture therethrough;
a camera having a field of regard with a plurality of fields of view from the vehicle, the camera disposed in the outside rearview mirror and adjustably configured to collect selected images from the plurality of fields of view through the aperture;
a storage apparatus in electrical communication with the camera, the storage apparatus configured to record and store the images collected by the camera for a period of time;
at least one sensor disposed about the vehicle and configured for sensing extra-vehicular information selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, date, time, pavement conditions, brightness and combinations thereof;
an interface device in communication with the at least one sensor and the storage apparatus and configured for providing the extra-vehicular information and vehicle drive train activity data to the storage apparatus; and
a control apparatus in electronic communication with the camera and the storage apparatus, the control apparatus configured to activate the camera and storage apparatus and adjust the field of regard of the camera to record the selected images from the plurality of fields of view. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of surveilling a vehicle operating area with a surveillance apparatus attached to the vehicle and including a camera mounted in a rearview mirror, and a storage apparatus in electronic communication with the camera and configured to record and store vehicle data, the method comprising:
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(a) selectively adjusting the camera to collect selected images from a plurality of fields of view through an aperture in the rearview mirror, the camera having a field of regard with a plurality of fields of view from the aperture;
(b) collecting the images using the camera;
(c) transferring the collected images to the storage apparatus; and
(d) storing the collected images in the storage apparatus between a first point in past time t1 and a second point in time t2; and
(e) and erasing data older than t1. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A surveillance apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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an outside rearview mirror defining an aperture therethrough;
a camera disposed in the outside rearview mirror having a field of regard through the aperture with a plurality of fields of view, the camera adjustably configured to collect selected images from the plurality of the fields of view;
a storage apparatus in electrical communication with the camera, the storage apparatus configured to record and store the images collected by the camera for a period of time between a point in past time t1 to a point in time t2 and further configured to erase the images older than t1;
at least one sensor disposed about the vehicle and configured for sensing extra-vehicular information selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, date, time, pavement conditions, brightness and combinations thereof;
an interface device in communication with the at least one sensor and the storage apparatus and configured for providing the extra-vehicular information and vehicle drive train activity data to the storage apparatus, the vehicle drive train activity selected from the group consisting of vehicle speed, acceleration, brake usage, gear selection and combinations thereof; and
a control apparatus in electronic communication with the camera and the storage apparatus, the control apparatus configured to activate the camera and storage apparatus and adjust the field of regard of the camera to record the selected images from the plurality of fields of view. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification