Television – Special applications
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-28
2002-04-09
Le, Vu (Department: 2613)
Television
Special applications
C348S073000, C348S082000, C348S158000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06369849
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to remote inspection devices.
More particularly, the invention relates to cameras which operate in spectrums of light which are not visible to the human eye for use in observing and inspecting objects which are in difficult to view locations.
Alarming statistics are available relating to the death or serious injury of police officers when performing normal police activities. For example, an automobile may be stopped by the police for what may be considered a minor or normal traffic violation. This routine traffic stop is conducted by law enforcement personnel thousands of times each day. Though traffic stops are typically safe, they can become the most dangerous situations encountered by law enforcement personnel. When the police officer leaves his vehicle to inspect or interview the person stopped, he sometimes encounters dangerous situations where the motorist is retaliatory or unbeknownst to the police officer, has committed a serious crime. In such situations, the police officer is extremely vulnerable to attack as a view of a motorist is obscured by the vehicle, and generally, the motorist cannot be seen until the police officer is only a few feet away. Traffic stops are particularly dangerous when a motorist is stopped in a relatively isolated area by a lone police officer. In such situations, it is relatively easy for a motorist to initiate a surprise attack of a police officer using a weapon such as a knife or gun. The motorist has been known to attempt an escape, sometimes after attempting to harm or kill the police officer. Accordingly, police officers are increasingly placed in demanding situations wherein their safety is in jeopardy.
Moreover, more and more motorists are placing window tinting upon the windows of their automobiles. This window tinting can impede a view into the automobile, or can make the windows completely opaque as seen by a person outside of the automobile. This window tinting makes police officers even more vulnerable to attack. Police officers in such circumstances have been attacked and in some instances killed. Thus, it would be greatly advantageous if the police officers were provided with devices which visually pierce the tinted windows and would enable them to look within a vehicle from a more distant location or from a position less vulnerable to attack.
Dangerous situations are also encountered by firefighting personnel when they are attempting to extinguish a fire in a burning building. In fighting the fire, the firefighting personnel are often required to enter the building to search for survivors or to fight the fire itself. Unfortunately, upon entering a burning building, the vision of the firefighting personnel can be severely obstructed by smoke, fumes or the like. This can place the firefighting personnel in great danger and can severely impede the firefighter's ability to search for survivors or extinguish the fire. Accordingly, there is a obvious need for an observation device which is capable of “seeing” through smoke, fumes or the like to aid firefighting personnel in their activities.
Law enforcement such as border patrol, customs, drug enforcement and treasury agents all encounter circumstances wherein it is difficult to conduct inspections. For example, each of these agencies must often inspect the undercarriages of vehicles, such as automobiles or trucks, for drugs, stolen property, explosives, etc. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for law enforcement personnel to position themselves below a vehicle for inspection. Accordingly, vehicles, due to their mobility and ubiquitous nature, have become a major resource for smugglers who wish to illegally transport objects from one location to another. Accordingly, it would be greatly advantageous if these law enforcement personnel were provided with an inspection device which would enable them to search difficult to view locations, such a below vehicles, around corners, on rooftops, in narrow crawlspaces, etc.
None of the known prior art discloses a remote inspection device which would meet the aforementioned needs of law enforcement and firefighting personnel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,186 issued to Peterson discloses a vehicle mounted surveillance system. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,335 issued to Cohodar discloses a video camera and video recording assembly disposed within a police vehicle. Unfortunately, these references disclose devices which are too bulky, and restricted to use within a vehicle, to be capable of being used easily by personnel to inspect difficult to see locations. In addition, these devices are not capable of looking through medium such as smoke, tinted windows or the like.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,124 issued to Scerbo III discloses a handgun holster-mounted surveillance camera. The camera is activated upon a police officer removing his gun from its holster. This device is particularly useful for recording situations where a police officer is able to draw his gun. However, this device is useless where the police officer has been completely surprised and has been ambushed. Moreover, this device does not include the ability to reduce the vulnerability of a police officer, but instead, records the outcome wherein a police officer has already been placed in a vulnerable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,097 issued to Meyers discloses a targeting illuminating system which is mounted on a firearm or the like. The device is capable of illuminating a target in infrared light and includes a viewing apparatus for displaying a picture of an object illuminated by the infrared light. Unfortunately, this device is not configured for easy manual manipulation by a user to inspect difficult to view locations.
It would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which can be used by the police in conducting operations such as routine traffic stops, to view objects which are in difficult to see or dangerous locations.
It would also be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of seeing through tinted windows, smoke, fumes or the like.
Moreover, it would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of operating in the dark or in low light conditions.
In addition, it would be highly desirable to provide a remote inspection device which is capable of operating without informing nonusers that the inspection device is in operation. To this end, it would be highly desirable that the remote inspection device operates in wavelengths of light which are not seen by the human eye.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention addresses the aforementioned disadvantages by providing a remote inspection device which is capable of enabling the user to inspect objects in difficult to see locations. Moreover, the remote inspection device is capable of operating in the dark or low light and is capable of seeing through certain medium which is impossible for the human eye alone to see through.
The remote inspection device of the present invention includes an elongate housing. The elongate housing is preferably hollow and tubular forming an inner sidewall and outer sidewall and defining a proximal extremity and a distal extremity. As will be explained in greater below, it is preferred that the elongate housing have a length of 24 inches or greater. More preferably, the elongate housing has a length of 36 inches or greater. Moreover, in an additional preferred embodiment, the elongate housing is telescopic, telescoping from a minimum length of less than 12 inches to a maximum length of 36 inches or more, depending on the need for each application.
Extending downwardly from the proximal extremity of the elongate housing is a grip assembly. The grip assembly is configured for receipt of a user's hand and includes a plurality of finger rests for placement of a user's fingers. In addition, the backside of the grip assembly includes a plurality of activation switches, such as trigger switches, toggle
Drummond & Duckworth
Le Vu
Vosi Technologies, Inc.
LandOfFree
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