Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – Of burglary or unauthorized use
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-17
2004-09-14
Trieu, Van T. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
Of burglary or unauthorized use
C340S426300, C340S989000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06791456
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-009071 filed on Jan. 17, 2001 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-351403 filed on Nov. 16, 2001 the entire contents thereof are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for transmitting attribute information representing characteristics of a vehicle by radio, and a system for reporting by radio of an abnormality of the vehicle, such as a theft, a failure, or an accident, and particularly to a technique that makes it possible to identify and locate the vehicle and also grasp attributes of the vehicle such as the producer and the type of the vehicle by the report.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventionally, various inventions have been proposed to deal with the theft of a vehicle.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 61-30450 proposes a vehicle theft preventing system in which theft detecting means and transmitting means are provided for a vehicle. A display is carried by the owner of the vehicle who receives a theft detecting signal from the vehicle and displays the theft detecting signal on the display. The display transmits a signal to activate an alarm provided on the vehicle.
Japanese Patent No. 2665478 Publication proposes an anti-vehicle-theft system in which a theft detector and a position detector are provided on a vehicle. The position detector is activated in response to the theft detector detecting a theft and then automatically transmits position information.
Recently, navigation systems employing a positioning system (GPS: Global Positioning System) using satellites have been incorporated in a number of vehicles. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-5626 proposes an accident information reporting system utilizing position information that can be obtained by a vehicle using such a navigation system. Specifically, the navigation system is provided with means for detecting an accident to the vehicle and transmitting means. When the occurrence of an accident to the vehicle is detected, the navigation system automatically transmits accident information and information on where the accident has occurred to the police, the JAF or the like.
In addition, recent developments relating to radio communication systems have brought a positioning service using a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), which makes it possible to locate the PHS communication terminal by determining which base station apparatus has a radio communication service area where the terminal is located.
However, although the conventional inventions for dealing with theft and accidents may provide position information, the conventional inventions simply report a theft and an accident. Therefore, it is difficult to take action adequately in response to the report.
Specifically, in a case where a vehicle is stolen, it is not possible to search for the stolen vehicle if attributes of the vehicle itself, such as the name of the producer, the type, and the body color of the vehicle, are not known. Thus, the search is begun after identifying the attributes representing characteristics of the vehicle by interviewing the owner of the stolen vehicle, for example, and therefore it is not possible to take appropriate action promptly.
Even if the vehicle belongs to a particular vehicle type, attributes in terms of appearance, which enable identification of the particular vehicle at a glance, may be changed by replacing wheels, pasting a sticker on the body of the vehicle, attaching a TV antenna or the like, replacing seats or seat covers visible from outside the vehicle, and other work done by the user as required. Some measures are required to deal with such a change in the attributes by the user after purchase of the vehicle. Such conditions are especially noticeable in the case of motorcycles. A user often not only pastes a sticker on the body of the vehicle but also replaces parts that change the appearance of the motorcycle, such as a muffler, a fender, and an air cleaner box, as so-called customizing work after the purchase of the vehicle.
Furthermore, there is a service which takes and offers a photograph of the vehicle at a dealer or the like at the time of purchase of the vehicle. Such a photograph of the vehicle is also an attribute that enables identification of the particular vehicle at a glance. When the photographic image is used as an attribute, the attribute information needs to be associated with the change in the attributes as described above.
Furthermore, there are many users who have an attachment to their vehicles. Such users have a desire to use an image of the vehicle at the time of the change in the attributes as described above as part of an album.
Also in a case of an accident to a vehicle, it is not possible to take appropriate action promptly because, for example, the police are sent to the site of the accident, inspect the vehicle in the accident, and request a wrecker necessary for carrying the vehicle in the accident which wrecker is appropriate in size for the vehicle in the accident.
In addition, although in a case of a failure in the vehicle, it is convenient if a radio communication system as described above is used to automatically transmit a report of the failure and thereby request maintenance service, simply reporting the occurrence of the failure by such a failure report has the same problems as described above.
Specifically, in order to repair the failure promptly on the spot, it is necessary to prepare necessary replacement parts in advance. In some cases, the failure can be repaired only by maintenance service of the producer of the vehicle. Moreover, depending on the extent of the failure, a wrecker for carrying the vehicle to a repair shop is required. However, if going to the spot for repair after only the occurrence of the failure is reported, it is not possible to deal with the failure quickly and thus not possible to take appropriate action promptly.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional situations described above, and it is accordingly an object of the present invention to make it possible to take appropriate action promptly in response to a report of an abnormality of a vehicle such as a theft, an accident, or a failure.
It is another object of the present invention to associate attribute information that can identify the vehicle with the vehicle at the present time and thereby optimize the attribute information.
Further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description. The present invention makes it possible to identify the vehicle and take appropriate action promptly, by performing a communication processing and information processing to provide identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle, attribute information indicating attributes of the vehicle itself, and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle. The present invention also makes it possible to optimize the attribute information useful in identifying the vehicle.
The present invention makes it possible to take appropriate action promptly in response to an occurrence of an abnormality of a vehicle such as a theft, an accident, or a failure, by performing communication processing and information processing by providing information on the abnormality detected from the vehicle, identifying information for uniquely identifying the vehicle, attribute information indicating attributes of the vehicle itself, and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle.
Abnormalities of the vehicle include thefts, accidents, and failures.
When dealing with a theft in the present invention, information capable of providing notification of the fact that the vehicle is stolen suffices as abnormality information. The abnormality information may include information on the time of the theft, which information is obtained by an internal clock in a terminal appa
Mochizuki Yoshifumi
Nakayama Kengo
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Trieu Van T.
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