Communications: electrical – Selective – Intelligence comparison for controlling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-10
2004-05-18
Horabik, Michael (Department: 2635)
Communications: electrical
Selective
Intelligence comparison for controlling
C340S005600, C340S005500, C475S158000, C475S298000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06737956
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to control devices for bicycle transmissions and, more particularly, to a password registration device for a bicycle transmission that employs an antitheft system.
Bicycles, particularly recreational bicycles referred to as city cruisers, are inexpensive and are easy to ride, so they are widely used to commute to work or to school. Such recreational bicycles are sometimes stolen from bike stands or the like in front of train stations. To prevent this type of theft, bicycle locks such as box-shaped locks and horseshoe-shaped locks are attached to the front or back fork to lock the wheel. However, the simple structure of bicycle locks makes them easy to unlock and remove.
Antitheft devices which mount to the bicycle wheel hub and which make the bicycle difficult to ride recently have been developed. The lock mechanism of such antitheft devices usually is disposed inside an internal shifting hub. When the lock mechanism is activated, the rear wheel of the bicycle is difficult to move, and noise is emitted when forcible movement is attempted. The lock mechanism can be operated between a locked state and an unlocked state with the aid of a shift control element provided to a handlebar. In order to switch the lock mechanism from the locked state to the unlocked state, password symbols are entered, and if the entered password symbols fail to match the password symbols (hereinafter “reference password symbols”) previously registered for reference purposes, the unlocked state cannot be established. Thus, only the person (usually the bicycle owner) who knows the reference password symbols can disengage the lock.
Reference password symbols can be registered with the aid of the shift control element. Typically, password symbols are entered by means of a prescribed operation, and these symbols are registered as reference password symbols by pressing a control button on the shift control element. Unfortunately, sometimes the operator does not perform the prescribed operation correctly, thus resulting in the registration of password symbols other than the intended password symbols. If the operator does not notice the error, the operator will not know the erroneously entered password. As a result, the intended password will not match the erroneously entered password stored in the antitheft mechanism, and the operator will be unable to disengage the lock.
There are also cases in which the user forgets the registered reference password symbols even after entering these reference password symbols correctly. This is particularly true when the reference password symbols are changed often to prevent theft. If the user is unable to remember the correct reference password symbols, the user again is unable to disengage the lock.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a password registration device for a bicycle wherein password symbols input to the device may be confirmed before they are stored as the reference password, and wherein the password can be set to a default value in the event the user forgets the password. In one embodiment of the present invention, a password registration device includes a password input device for inputting an input password; a tentative password designation mechanism for designating the input password as a tentative password; a signaling mechanism coupled to the tentative password designation mechanism for signaling that the input password is designated as a tentative password; and a reference password memory for storing a reference password. A password registration requesting device is provided for requesting storage of the tentative password in the reference password memory, and a password registration mechanism is provided for storing the tentative password in the reference password memory in response to the password registration requesting device. The user can register the input password as the reference password after considering the signal provided by the tentative password designation mechanism.
In another embodiment, a password registration device includes a password input device for inputting an input password; a reference password memory; a password registration mechanism for storing the input password in the reference password memory; a default password memory for storing a default password; and resetting means for storing the default password in the reference password memory. The resetting means can be used to set the default password as the reference password if the user forgets the originally input password.
In a bicycle antitheft system that incorporates the present invention, an antitheft device is provided that is switchable between an antitheft position and a released position. A selecting mechanism is provided for selecting the antitheft position and the released position; a selection effecting means is provided for switching the antitheft device between the antitheft position and the released position in response to the selecting mechanism; an antitheft maintaining mechanism is provided for maintaining the antitheft device in the antitheft position; and a release mechanism is provided for releasing the antitheft device from the antitheft position. The release mechanism includes an embodiment of the password registration device described above and in more detail below.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5594793 (1997-01-01), Bahout
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patent: 8-158722 (1996-06-01), None
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Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1996, No. 10, Oct. 31, 1996, for JP 8-158722, published Jun. 18, 1996.
German Trelock catalog, published Sep. 1995.
Brown Vernal
Deland James A.
Horabik Michael
Shimano Inc.
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