Vehicle occupants, including, but not limited to parents and children, are often handing items back and forth to each other in a vehicle. These items may include, for example, food, empty food wrappers and containers, toys, tissues, napkins, straws, snacks, fruit, games, etc. As smaller children should be secured in booster seats, and as the parents and larger children are similarly restrained by seat belts, the handing of items back and forth usually requires that a parent, a child or both unbuckle their safety belts, which can be both inconvenient and potentially unsafe. In larger vehicles, especially those with three or more rows of seating, one cannot simply lean over to pass the items, as the distance between the respective passengers is too great. The items can be thrown, but this is potentially dangerous or messy, and often results in the item being dropped, lost or broken. Hence, one of the occupants must get out of his or her seat and move towards the other—if there is an aisle, and if the seatbelt can be safely unfastened. Alternatively, the vehicle must be stopped, and one of the passengers must physically exit the vehicle to pass the item to the other passenger. This is extremely inconvenient, especially during inclement weather, or when in areas where one would prefer not to leave the car for safety reasons.
It is therefore desirable to provide an in-vehicle transport system to alleviate the aforementioned problems, which enables passengers to conveniently and safely pass items to each other without needing to move from their seats or unfasten their seatbelts.
Embodiments of the present invention provide an in-vehicle transport system designed to move items safely between passengers. The system may be permanently installed in a vehicle as a factory option, or it may be installed as a dealer option or an after market add-on. The system comprises a track, a mover, a caddy, a user control and control logic.
In one embodiment, the track is installed in, on or adjacent to the inside of the roof, for example, adjacent the roof liner or headliner of a vehicle. As used herein, the terms roof liner or headliner refer to the underside of the vehicle roof, regardless of whether the underside contains material other than the vehicle roof material. Typically, however, the headliner is made from a fabric, leather or plastic material. For purposes of the present invention, the region adjacent to the roof liner or headliner of a vehicle includes those regions of the interior of the vehicle that are between the windows and the ceiling of the vehicle. The track may have a multitude of configurations, including U-shaped, parabolic, question mark-shaped, zigzagged or straight. The track defines the path along which the mover and caddy travel. The track may be flush or recessed with respect to the roof liner or headliner so that headroom is not reduced by the presence of the system, or may be mounted on or adjacent to the roof liner or headliner. Of course, for purposes of the present invention, the roof liner or headliner is also intended to include the internal surface of the roof for vehicles that may have no roof liner or headliner. The track may be made of rigid or flexible material in order to accommodate a variety of vehicle types, track paths and installation scenarios, and may be installed by a vehicle manufacturer, the vehicle owner, the vehicle dealer or an after market supplier. The track may be connected to the vehicle's electrical system to provide power for the mover, and may be designed to ensure that the mover does not detach unless an operator intentionally tries to remove it. The track may be reconfigurable to allow the path to be modified to accommodate after-market changes to the vehicle, such as the installation of an in-ceiling video system.
The mover may be attached to the track, and is designed to move along the track. In one embodiment, the mover may use a motor or equivalent technology to motivate the mover along the track. The motor may be installed on the mover, or be external to the mover. In one embodiment, the mover is small, yet sized to support the weight of the typical items to be moved within the vehicle, and moves at an appropriate speed along the track, i.e., a speed that is not so slow as to frustrate the passenger while waiting for the item to be delivered, nor so fast as to risk colliding with or startling passengers or dropping items from the caddy. The mover may be flush with the track. The mover may be removable from the track for maintenance. The mover may have a connector that enables the caddy to be securely attached to the mover. In one embodiment, the caddy may be connected to a retractable connector that allows the caddy to be raised up to avoid hitting seatbacks and headrests, and lowered down to be within the grasp of smaller children or passengers who cannot reach the caddy when the connector is in the retracted position.
The caddy is used to hold the items to be moved. The caddy is attached to the mover, and in one embodiment, it is detachable to facilitate cleaning of the caddy. The caddy can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials to meet the functional and stylistic needs of the vehicle operator. For example, the caddy may be made from a mesh net, a hook, a clamp, a plastic tray with cup holders, etc. Caddies can be simple and functional, or elaborate and ornate, decorated with sports logos or cartoon characters. The caddy may be designed to allow the vehicle occupants to easily add and remove items without leaving their seats or unbuckling their seat belts, and without dropping or spilling the items that go into the caddy. In certain embodiments, the caddy may be open or sealable using a zipper, Velcro, an articulated cover, etc. The caddy does not need to be detached from the mover to add items to the caddy, or to remove items from the caddy. In one embodiment, the caddy may be attached/detached from the mover for maintenance or cleaning, or when no longer needed. The caddy may hang from the mover, enabling the vehicle occupants to add or remove items without unbuckling their seat belts. In another embodiment, the caddy may be secured out of the way when not in use without disconnecting it from the mover, for example, by providing a collapsible caddy.
In one or more embodiments, control logic may be provided to keep track of the current position of the mover, and to control the motor to move the mover to, and stop at preset positions along the track. These preset positions are referred to herein as stops, and may include the terminal ends of the track, as well as points between the terminal ends. In one embodiment, the stops may be user-defined, either mechanically, electronically or in software. According to certain embodiments, the control logic causes the mover to move between stops, and may optionally cause the mover to skip one or more stops. In one embodiment, the control logic knows the number of stops along the track and where the stops are located. In certain embodiments, the control logic receives commands from the user control and attempts to fulfill these commands. In one embodiment, if the commands cannot be fulfilled, the control logic may return an error message, such as an audible tone. The control logic may be contained in a dedicated logic device (suitable for after market installation) or may be integrated into an onboard computer provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
According to one or more embodiments, the stops are predefined positions along the track where the caddy comes to rest so that a passenger can place items in the caddy or remove items therefrom. In one embodiment, a stop may be located near the driver and another stop located near one of the passengers in an intermediate row or rear row of seats. There may be many stops along the track, especially for larger vehicles. Stops may be defined by the manufacturer and may also be redefined by the vehicle operator.
In some embodiments, the user control may include an interface with buttons that the vehicle occupants can press to indicate which stop they want the mover/caddy to move to. In one embodiment, the user control may be installed next to the driver. In one embodiment, multiple sets of controls may be installed, especially for larger vehicles. In another embodiment, the controls may be installed in the center of the front console so that both the driver and front seat passenger can use the same user control. The controls may determine the direction of movement (towards the driver or away) of the mover, and may be designed to indicate if the mover should move to the next stop or to the farthest stop. The user controls may be waterproof, and may provide tactile feedback when pressed so that the user knows that the caddy has been activated or deactivated to reach the intended passenger.
In one embodiment, the system may also include an audible alert device to play an audio signal (a beep, etc.) when the control logic cannot fulfill a command sent from the user control. Examples of this may include a request to move the caddy closer to the driver when the caddy is already at the closest stop to the driver. The audible alert device may be an onboard speaker provided by the vehicle manufacturer (such as a speaker that serves other functions, such as making a sound when the lights are left on), or a dedicated speaker provided to support after-market installations.
Several exemplary embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. It should be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in many forms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as the basis for claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. Referring first to
The mover 12 can be any suitable mechanism that interfaces with the track 11 to move the caddy 13 along the track 11. For example, if the track 11 is a rail system, the mover 12 may include one or more rollers or wheels that roll along the track 11. Alternatively, the mover 12 may include gears that mesh with indentations or other features on the track 11. As yet another alternative, the mover 12 may be an arm that attaches to a moving element of the track 11. The mover 12 can be separate from the caddy 13, or it can be integrated with the caddy 13. For example, the caddy 13 may comprise a box-like structure with an upper extension or arm that has a roller, wheel, gear or clasp associated with the extension that is adapted to interface with the track 11.
As shown in
Any suitable electronics known to those of skill in the art may be used to implement the control logic 16 to process the signals sent by the user control 15, such as a programmable logic array, a microcontroller, or the like. The control logic 16 may be a dedicated device for the system 10, as provided by an after market add-on option for the vehicle 1, and may be built into the user control 15 or even into the track 11. However, vehicles often contain numerous electronics packages that monitor the status of the vehicle 1, and provide other user services (such as GPS systems). Many of these other electronics packages are suitably flexible and powerful enough to handle the control functionality of the control logic 16. Hence, it should be clear that the control logic 16 may also be served by a multi-purpose logic system provided by the vehicle manufacturer. It should be appreciated that complex control logic 16 is not required of the present invention; at its most basic level, the control logic 16 may do little more than direct the mover 12 to move forward, backward or stop according to the status of the buttons 23, 24 as pressed by a user.
A speaker 30 may be connected to the control logic 16 to provide audible feedback to the user. For example, when the control logic 16 is unable to fulfill a command received from the user control 15, the control logic 16 may cause the speaker 30 to sound a corresponding error tone, as when requesting the mover 12 to move beyond the end point stops 14a, 14b. Similarly, when the control logic 16 detects that the mover 12 has arrived at a desired stop 14a-14c, the control logic 16 may cause the speaker 30 to emit a signal indicating that the caddy 13 has arrived at its desired location. The speaker 16 may be dedicated to the system 10. Alternatively, the speaker 30 may be a general-purpose speaker that also performs other functions, such as warning of unbuckled seatbelts, door ajar conditions, and the like. The speaker 30 may be disposed anywhere within the vehicle 1, or even on the track 11.
As shown by the system 10, the track 11 may be as in the general form resembling the shape of a question mark so that as the mover 12 moves along the track 11, the caddy 13 passes by each passenger seat in the vehicle 1. Of course, it will be understood that other shapes for the track 11 may be employed that are best adapted to the layout of the vehicle 1 according to the location of the seats in the vehicle 1 and to avoid obstructions to the caddy 13; such obstructions may include, for example, installed video systems, lights or the like, and seat backs. For example, the track 11 may be U-shaped, passing along one side of the vehicle 1 and returning along another side of the vehicle 1, or along the middle of the vehicle 1. Alternatively, the track 11 may simply be a straight stretch running along one side of the vehicle 1, or down the approximate centerline of the vehicle 1. The track 11 may be made of steel, and in the system 10 may be incorporated into the interior vehicle 1 roofing assembly. However, it will be understood that other materials for the track 11 may be used, such as aluminum, plastic or the like. The track 11 may be installed such that the track 11 is flush with, or recessed within, roof liner 6 of the vehicle 1. Or, the track 11 may be mounted on the roof liner 6, or adjacent to the roof liner 6. Thus, it is also possible for the track 11 to protrude from the liner 6, which may occur if the system 10 is installed as an after market add-on, or if the roof is little more than a sheet (that is, the roof has no liner, and so the roof liner 6 is nothing more than the internal surface of the roof). However, such installations of the track 11 will reduce the amount of headroom available to passengers within the vehicle 1. The track 11 may be attached to the roof of the vehicle 1 by welding, or with fasteners such as bolts or screws. For purposes of the present invention, it will be understood that the track 11 encompasses not only rails along which the mover 12 may roll or slide, but also wires which may pull the mover 12 or provide a path for the mover 12 to traverse along; that is, the track 11 is used for defining the path within the vehicle 1 along which the mover 12 traverses.
The caddy 13 and mover 12 provide a transport for carrying items along a route defined by the path, while the user control 15 and control logic 16 are used for controlling the operations of the transport. Together, the transport and control enable passengers to move items throughout the vehicle 1 while the vehicle 1 is stationary or while in motion. For example, a family on the go may get food at a drive-through restaurant window. After the food is handed to the driver in seat 2, the driver can put the food, which is to be moved to the rear of the vehicle for the kids, on a center console 4. The front seat 3 passenger would then put the food and drinks into the caddy 13 and send the caddy 13 to stop 14b, back to the kids in a third row of seats 5 of the vehicle 1, by clicking on the user control 15. When the kids have finished their food, they would put the empty wrappers and cups in the caddy 13, and the front seat 3 passenger would click on the control 15 to send the caddy 13 to the stop 14a. Then, the front seat 3 passenger could remove the garbage and place it in a bag on the floor. As a result, by utilizing the system 10 when passing items back and forth between the front and rear of the vehicle 1 via stops 14a and 14b, none of the passengers in the vehicle 1 need to move from their respective seats 3, 5, nor do they need to unbuckle their seatbelts.
In the embodiment shown in
Referring now to
Disposed at various positions along the route of track 11 (that is, along the route defined by the path) corresponding to the stops 14a-14c are stop indicators 20, which are used to detect the presence of the mover 12 at the corresponding position on the track 11. In the system 10, the stop indicators 20 may be active elements electrically connected to the control logic 16, thereby enabling the control logic 16 to detect and determine the location of the mover 12 and to control power on the power strip 27 to halt the mover 12 at one of the stops 14a-14c. Any suitable device may be used for the stop indicator 20, such as a contact switch that is activated by one of the wheels 18 or the body of the mover 12, a magnetic detector that senses a corresponding magnet on the mover 12, an LED/photo-sensor pair that is disrupted by the mover 12, etc.
Referring now to
Referring now to
By providing a signal strip on the track, it is possible for the control logic to obtain information about the status of the motor; either directly, as in the third embodiment, or via the signaling strip, as in the second embodiment. Consequently, when the motor comes under strain, as when blocked by a person or an obstruction, or upon reaching the ends of the track, a corresponding signal may be sent to the control logic, in response to which the control logic can turn off the motor, or perform any other appropriate action, such as resetting the apparent location of the mover. Of course, means other than a signal strip on the track may be used to transmit signaling information between the mover and the control logic, or between the control logic and the user controls; for example, retractable or flexible wires may be used, or even a wireless communications link. Means for transmitting signaling information between two points (i.e., the mover and the control logic) are well known in the art, and any such suitable means may be employed for the purposes of the present invention. Also, it should be understood that it is possible to dispose a portion of the control logic on the mover, and another portion of the control logic off the mover. For example, a sub-set of the control logic for performing collision detection could be mounted on the mover; the mover could thus detect collision or end-of-track conditions autonomously, while another sub-set of the control logic for scheduling and handling stops could be disposed off of the mover and control the mover via a signal line or power line.
The locomotion device for the mover need not be disposed on the mover; other configurations to motivate the mover are certainly possible and within the scope of the present invention. For example, referring now to
Referring to
Having the control logic control the extension 450 allows the control logic to prevent the extension 450 from extending while the caddy 413 is in motion. Alternatively, this configuration can have the extension 450 automatically extend without human intervention when the caddy 413 arrives at its stop, and automatically retract before the caddy 413 begins moving to the next stop. As shown in
As shown in
Of course, the present invention is not limited to a single set of user controls. Multiple user controls may be provided so that multiple passengers may use the in-vehicle transportation system of the present invention. For example, referring to
The present invention does not require that the stops be physically located on the track or path. If the mover is provided the ability to determine its position along the path, then it is possible to implement the stops in software within the control logic, and to permit the user to program the control logic so as to change the default number and position of the stops along the path. Such an embodiment is exemplified in
In any event, by learning of the current position of the mover 712 from the position sensor 721, the control logic 718 can control the motor 719 to stop at pre-programmed positions along the track 701 as indicated by user control signals obtained from the signal strip 716. An illustrative embodiment for the control logic 718 is presented in
With an appropriate implementation of a user interface for the user controls, such implementations being well known in the art, the processor 730 may receive user control signals to set and reset the bits 743, and hence set and clear as many stops along the path defined by the track 701 as there are virtual track partitions 742. Additionally, it is certainly possible to provide more than one database of virtual track partitions 742, which may be selectively used by the processor 730, so that a user may easily and quickly switch between various stop configurations. For example, one configuration may have only two stops, whereas a second configuration could have six stops. These configurations could be stored in the memory 740, and the processor 730 could switch between them based upon user control signals obtained from the user control signal input 754. Thus, the processor 730, memory 740 and position sensor 721 form a stop indicating system that is used to determine where along the path the mover 712 should stop. Similarly, the processor 730, memory 740 and signal strip 716 form the control system that is used to control the motor 719.
Although embodiments of the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the method of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the embodiments disclosed above show the mover and caddy as separate items, it will be understood that the mover and caddy could be a single, integrated object. Moreover, the user control and the control logic need not be separate items. In a simple embodiment, the control logic could be omitted entirely, and the mover would simply move as dictated by the user control; that is, the control signal sent by the user control would directly control the motor that urges the mover along the path, and optionally control the motor that drives the extension. Similarly, although the various embodiments disclose a mover that is powered by a motor, a manually actuated mover, such as with a crank or simply by pushing the mover along the track, and with optional attendant mechanical stops, is within the scope of the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention include modifications and variations that are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.