Patent Application
20170203812
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a bicycle brake that is operationally coupled to a bicycle. A GPS-enabled control unit capable of sending and receiving wireless signals is coupled to the bicycle. An effector unit is positioned on and operationally coupled to the bicycle brake. The effector unit is wirelessly coupled to the control unit. The device includes a GPS-enabled transmitting unit that is capable of sending and receiving wireless signals. The transmitting unit sends wirelessly a separation limit defined by the user to the control unit. The separation limit is evaluated as a distance between the GPS coordinates of the transmitting unit and the control unit. Should the separation limit be exceeded, the control unit will send a wireless signal to the effector unit, causing the effector unit to engage the bicycle brake to bring the bicycle to a stop.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A control 18 unit is coupled to a bicycle. The control unit 18 is capable of sending and receiving wireless signals. The control unit 18 is GPS-enabled. More specifically, the control unit 18 comprises a housing 20 that is coupled to and positioned on a bicycle. Preferably, the housing 20 is coupled to and positioned on the bicycle brake 12. Alternatively, the housing 20 is coupled to and positioned in a respective one of the pair of arms 16, such that the housing 20 is integral to the respective one of the pair of arms 16. A power module 22 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 20. The power module 22 comprises at least one battery 24. A first processor 26 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 20. The first processor 26 is operationally coupled to the power module 22. A GPS receiver 28 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 20. The GPS receiver 28 is operationally coupled to the first processor 26 and the power module 22. A first receiver 30 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 20. The first receiver is 30 operationally coupled to the first processor 26 and the power module 22, such that the first receiver 26 is capable of receiving wireless signals from the user. The first receiver 26 is Bluetooth enabled. A transmitter 32 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 20. The transmitter 32 is operationally coupled to the first processor 26 and the power module 22. The transmitter 32 also is Bluetooth enabled.
An effector unit 34 is positioned on and operationally coupled to the bicycle brake 12. The effector unit 34 is operationally coupled to the control unit 18. Preferably, the effector unit 34 is wirelessly coupled to the control unit 18. More specifically, the effector unit 34 comprises a casing 36 that is coupled to and positioned on the bicycle brake 12. Preferably, the casing 36 is positioned on a respective one of the pair of arms 16. A power unit 38 is coupled to and positioned in the casing 36. The power unit 38 comprises at least one battery 24. An actuator 40 is coupled to and positioned in the casing 36. The actuator 40 is operationally coupled to the bicycle brake 12 and the power unit 38. Preferably, the actuator 40 is operationally coupled to a cable 42 of the caliper brake 14. A second processor 52 is coupled to and positioned in the casing 36. The second processor 52 is operationally coupled to the power unit 38 and the actuator 40. A second receiver 44 is coupled to and positioned in the casing 36. The second receiver 44 is operationally coupled to the second processor 52 and the power unit 38. The second receiver 52 also is Bluetooth enabled and capable of receiving wireless signals produced by said transmitter 32.
The device 10 also includes a transmitting unit 46 that is capable of sending and receiving wireless signals. The transmitting unit 46 is GPS-enabled and comprises a computer program 48. The program 48 is installable on the user's GPS-enabled electronic devices. The program 48 includes programmable software controls 50, wherein the program 48 can be configured by the user to define a separation limit between the control unit 18 and the transmitting unit 46. The separation limit is evaluated by the first processor 26 as a distance between the GPS coordinates of the transmitting unit 46 and the control unit 18. Should the separation limit be exceeded, the first processor 26 will send a signal via the transmitter 32 and the second receiver 44 to the second processor 52, wherein the actuator 40 will be compelled to engage the bicycle brake 12. The computer program 48 also has manual override capability, such that the user may engage the bicycle brake 12 without the separation limit being exceeded.
In use, the transmitting unit 46 sends wirelessly a separation limit defined by the user to the control unit 18, and such that the control unit 18 will send a wireless signal to the effector unit 34 should the separation limit be exceeded, wherein the effector unit 34 will engage the bicycle brake 12, bringing the bicycle to a stop.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded.
A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
