Patent Application
20240355190
Embodiments described herein generally relate to locator systems, and more particularly to a smart vehicle locator system.
Sometimes individuals return to a parking lot and are not able to remember where their car is parked. It can become a very time consuming and stressful ordeal trying to find one's parked car when they cannot remember where the car is parked. Hence, a mechanism for locating a vehicle is desirable.
The various advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to one skilled in the art by reading the following specification and appended claims, and by referencing the following drawings, in which:
Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein describe a smart vehicle locator system. The system includes a base housing unit, a motor, an illumination device, an antenna device, a controller and a remote control device. The base housing unit is configured to attach to a vehicle. The motor is contained in the base housing unit and the motor is configured to actuate motion of a motorized antenna. The illumination device includes a plurality of lights and is attached to a proximate end of the motorized antenna. The motorized antenna is housed in the removable housing unit in a default state and is controlled by the controller, wherein the motorized antenna is deployed and erected vertically from the base housing unit when activated by the controller and wherein the motorized antenna collapses into the base housing structure when deactivated by the controller and when in a default state. The remote control device includes at least one control key and at least one status indicator. The controller transmits and receives signals to and from the remote control device. The controller activates the motorized antenna to deploy so long as no objects are detected within the vertical range of motion of the motorized antenna if the motorized antenna is erected.
In some exemplary embodiments, the system comprises a sensor for detecting obstacles in the vertical range of motion of the antenna.
In some exemplary embodiments, the system further comprises a proximity sensor.
In some exemplary embodiments, the controller uses the sensor and the proximity sensor to detect whether an object is located within the vertical range of motion of the motorized antenna.
In some exemplary embodiments, the distal end of the motorized antenna is fixed inside of the antenna cover.
In some exemplary embodiments, the illumination device rotates horizontally with respect to the motorized antenna when the motorized antenna is erected.
In some exemplary embodiments, the system further comprises a sound emitter.
In some exemplary embodiments, the controller activates the sound emitter when at least one object is detected within the vertical range of motion of the motorized antenna.
In some exemplary embodiments, the controller sends a notification to the remote control device when at least one object is detected within the vertical range of motion of the motorized antenna.
In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one status indicator is an antenna obstructed indicator.
In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one control key is an deploy antenna key.
In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one control key is a light strobing trigger.
In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one control key is a light motion trigger.
In some exemplary embodiments, the system further comprises an attachment structure for attaching the base housing unit to a vehicle.
The disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made to various embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
The present disclosure relates to a smart vehicle locator system (“system”). As illustrated in
The attachment structure 28 may include a pair of attachment units 29, each attached to an opposite end of the base housing unit 12, such as, for example, a pair of suction cups. The attachment structure is configured to removably attach the base housing unit 12 to an external object. The attachment units are each attached to opposite ends of the base housing unit at one of its ends and is configured to attached to an external object, such as, for example, a vehicle, at its other end. A vehicle may include an automobile, a boat, a motorcycle, etc. The base housing unit 12 may attach to any external surface of the vehicle (e.g., roof, trunk, window, etc.). More specifically, the base housing unit may attach to the vehicle at any surface amenable to create a friction connection with the pair of attachment units.
The antenna device 14 comprises an antenna 15, a motor 16, a proximity sensor 17, a sensor 18, an antenna housing unit 19, and a light receiving surface 20. The antenna is a power (i.e., motorized) antenna and operates with a small motor 16 which is housed directly beneath the antenna 15 in the antenna housing unit 19. The motor may be a cylindrical motor that spins and becomes energized upon receipt of an activation signal from the controller 30. The motor propels the antenna out of the base housing unit 12 when activated and collapses the antenna upon receipt of a deactivation signal from the controller.
When the antenna 15 is activated, the antenna will rise (i.e., erect) in a vertical manner relative to the base housing unit to its highest height unless there is an object detected along its vertical range of motion (i.e., its path of erection). Turning to
The antenna 15 and the antenna housing unit 19 lie horizontally atop a surface of the base housing unit in a default state. The antenna 15 in its default state extends outside of the antenna housing unit 19 but remains inside the base housing unit 12. The distal end of the antenna is fixedly attached to an inside region of the antenna housing unit 19. At its proximate end, the antenna 15 includes a light receiving surface 20 which attaches to illumination device 22.
The illumination device 22 includes a light housing shell 24 which is integrated with at least one light 23 (
The controller 30 includes a memory (i.e., a computer readable storage media) including a plurality of computer readable instructions and a processor for executing the plurality of computer readable instructions to control the operation of the antenna device 14 and to transmit and receive signals to and from the remote control device 34. The controller receives the commands sent from the remote control device and processes the commands accordingly. The controller receives signals from the antenna device 14 (i.e., proximity sensor 17 and sensor 18) regarding the clearance range of the antenna.
Upon receipt of an open antenna command from the remote control device 34, the controller 30 sends an activation signal to the antenna device 14 and an acknowledgment signal to the remote control device 34. If the controller receives an obstruction signal from the antenna device 14 (i.e., from either proximity sensor 17 or sensor 18), then the controller sends a deactivation signal to the antenna device 14 and sends a signal to the remote control device indicating that the antenna opening space is not cleared. If an obstruction signal is not received, then the controller sends an antenna actuator erected successfully signal to the remote control device 34.
Upon receipt of an antenna close command from the remote control device 34, the controller 30 sends a deactivation signal to the antenna device 14 and an acknowledgment signal to the remote control device 34. Upon receipt of the deactivation signal from the controller, the antenna device will turn off thereby causing the antenna 15 to collapse into the base housing unit 12. Thereafter, the controller sends an antenna actuator closed successfully signal to the remote control device.
Upon receipt of a rotate command from the remote control device 34, the controller 30 sends a rotate activation signal to the antenna device 14 and sends an acknowledgment signal to the remote control device 34. The rotate activation signal causes the antenna device 14 to rotate the illumination device 22 attached to the top of the antenna 15.
Upon receipt of a strobe command from the remote control device 34, the controller 30 sends a strobe activation signal to the illumination device 22 and sends and an acknowledgment signal to the remote control device 34. The strobe activation light causes the at least one light to strobe. The at least one light will continue to strobe until a deactivation signal is received from the controller.
Upon receipt of a change antenna LED color command from the remote control device 34, the controller 30 sends a corresponding light color activation signal (e.g., activate red light, activate yellow light, activate green light) to the illumination device and sends and an acknowledgment signal to the remote control device 34. The light color activation signal causes the corresponding light color of the at least one light to illuminate. The at least one light continues to illuminate until a deactivation signal is received from the controller 30.
The power device 26 provides power to components (i.e., antenna device 14 and controller 30) of the vehicle attachment device 10. The power device may be implemented as a rechargeable battery. The power device includes a charging pin 27 (shown in
The remote control device 34 sends/receives signals to/from the vehicle attachment device 10. The remote control device may be configured as a handheld device. The remote control device comprises a housing, a memory including computer readable instructions, a processor for executing the computer readable instructions, a power device, at least one control key 36 (e.g., RGB buttons, Rotate illumination device button, Strobe LED(s) button, up button (i.e., open antenna), down button (i.e., close antenna) and at least one status indicator 38 (e.g., different color LEDs). The remote control device may be configured to provide the exemplary functions and status indicators listed in Table 1-1.
The disclosed embodiments are not inclusive and many other modifications and variations will be apparent to someone of ordinary skill in the art with construction skills in the related arts. Together the descriptions and accompanying illustrations seek to provide an explanation of the basic principles of the embodiment and its application. It is therefore intended that the specification and embodiments be considered as exemplary only.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad techniques of the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while the embodiments of this invention have been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the embodiments of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification, and following claims.
The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented, at least in part, in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. For example, various aspects of the described techniques may be implemented within one or more processors, including one or more microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry, as well as any combinations of such components. The term “processor” or “processing circuitry” may generally refer to any of the foregoing logic circuitry, alone or in combination with other logic circuitry, or any other equivalent circuitry. A controller comprising hardware may also perform one or more of the techniques of this disclosure.
Such hardware, software, and firmware may be implemented within the same device or within separate devices to support the various operations and functions described in this disclosure. In addition, any of the described units, modules or components may be implemented together or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. Depiction of different features as modules or units is intended to highlight different functional aspects and does not necessarily imply that such modules or units must be realized by separate hardware or software components. Rather, functionality associated with one or more modules or units may be performed by separate hardware or software components or integrated within common or separate hardware or software components.
The techniques described in this disclosure may also be embodied or encoded in a computer-readable medium, such as a computer-readable storage medium (i.e., memory), containing instructions. Instructions embedded or encoded in a computer-readable medium may cause a programmable processor, or other processor, to perform various corresponding functionality when the instructions are executed. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable storage media and transient communication media. Computer readable storage media, which is tangible and non-transitory, may include random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a cassette, magnetic media, optical media, or other computer-readable storage media. It should be understood that the tem1 “computer-readable storage media” refers to physical storage media, and not signals, carrier waves, or other transient media.
