Vehicle-mounted system

Details Vehicle-mounted system Vehicle-mounted system

2000-05-26

2004-01-06

Trost, William (Department: 2683)

Telecommunications

Radiotelephone system

Emergency or alarm communication

C455S090100, C455S569200, C455S575900

Reexamination Certificate

active

06675006

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted system, and more particularly to a vehicle-mounted system comprising a security device for detecting an abnormal condition for a vehicle and generating an alarm, and an emergency communication service unit (MayDay Unit) including a mobile telephone that informs a response center of the occurrence of an emergency in the event of emergency, the device and unit being connected in communication with one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vandalism of vehicles and cases of vehicle theft have increased with a deterioration in public security, and car security devices have become increasingly used as a means for protecting vehicles against those acts. With a car security device mounted in a vehicle, when the driver depresses an arming key of a remote control after getting out of the vehicle and closing a door, the remote control transmits an arming command code. The security device receives the arming command code and starts the arming operation (security operation) in response to the command. During the arming mode, the security device monitors outputs of various sensors such as a door sensor, a radar sensor, a hood (bonnet) sensor and a trunk sensor, and generates predetermined alarms upon actuation of the sensors. For example, if the door sensor detects opening of the door during the arming mode, the security device sounds a siren by itself, or controls the head lamps to flash on and off, or prevents the startup of an engine (cuts off a starter), thereby protecting the vehicle from theft.
Also, recent years have seen widespread use of an emergency communication service system that establishes a connection between a vehicle and a particular place (response center) via a mobile telephone network in the event of emergency, and enables the driver to receive various services from the response center. Such a service system is called a MayDay System or Telematics System in the United States.
FIG. 7
is a block diagram of the MayDay System. Numeral
11
denotes an emergency communication service unit (MayDay Unit) mounted in a vehicle, and
12
denotes a response center responding to a request from the emergency communication service unit (MayDay Unit). Numeral
13
denotes an emergency medical center sending an ambulance in accordance with an instruction from the response center, and
14
denotes a roadside assistance center responding to troubles such as a tire puncture and running out of gas. In the emergency communication service unit (MayDay Unit)
11
,
11
a
denotes a MayDay control unit comprising a cellular transceiver
11
a
-
1
, a GPS receiver/demodulator
11
a
-
2
for measuring a vehicle position, an acoustic circuit, a microcomputer for control processing, and so on. The MayDay Unit
11
further includes a cellular antenna (car phone antenna)
11
b
, a GPS antenna
11
c
, a hands free microphone
11
d
, an external speaker
11
e
, a communication button
11
f
operated when making a call to the response center, a panic button
11
g
for informing the response center of the occurrence of an emergency in the event of emergency, a door automatic locking/unlocking unit
11
h
, and an engine disabling unit
11
i
. The cellular transceiver
11
a
-
1
, the cellular antenna
11
b
, the hands free microphone
11
d
, and the external speaker lie together constitute a mobile telephone.
Examples of services provided by the MayDay System are as follows;
(1) communicating the occurrence of an accident or emergency,
(2) remote door unlocking of a vehicle locked without a key at hand,
(3) roadside assistance,
(4) engine disable,
(5) navigation assistance, and
(6) search for a stolen car.
In the service (1), communicating the occurrence of an accident or emergency, the user operates the panic button
11
g
to call the response center
12
with the mobile telephone, thereby informing the response center of the occurrence of an accident or emergency. The response center
12
transfers the received notice to the emergency medical center
13
and a police station so as to take immediate action for medical treatment and accident management. In the service (2), remote door unlocking of a vehicle locked without a key at hand, the user uses an external telephone to call the response center
12
in order to unlock the car doors when the keys are inside the locked car. Then, the response center
12
transmits an unlocking command to the MayDay control unit
11
a
, thereby automatically unlocking the locked vehicle. In the service (3), roadside assistance, upon a vehicle suffering a tire puncture or running out of gas, the user operates the communication button
11
f
to call the response center
12
with the mobile telephone, and informs the response center orally of the need for help from the response center
12
. The response center
12
transfers the received notice to the roadside assistance center
14
so as to take an action for sending a relief team. In the service (4), engine disable, if a vehicle should be stolen, the user informs the response center
12
of the theft from an external telephone. The response center
12
transmits an ignition cut command to the MayDay control unit
11
a
, thereby disabling the engine. In the service (5),navigation assistance, an operator at the response center
12
guides a route to the destination by voice. In the service (6), search for a stolen car, if a vehicle should be stolen, the user informs the response center
12
of the fact from an external telephone. The response center
12
transmits a vehicle position request command to the MayDay control unit
11
a
to acquire the vehicle position from the MayDay control unit
11
a
, and advises the user of the vehicle position.
Generally speaking, with the MayDay System, the user can receive various services by operating the communication button
11
f
or the panic button
11
g
, which are installed in the vehicle, so that the MayDay Unit
11
is connected to the response center
12
, or by communicating with the response center using an external telephone. Even with the communication button
11
f
or the panic button
11
g
operated, however, a connection to the response center
12
sometimes cannot be immediately established because of network congestion or some other reason. In such a case, since the conventional MayDay Unit
11
has no display unit, a problem arises in that the user cannot easily confirm whether a connection to the response center
12
has been completely established, or whether an established communication line has been cut off. Especially when the user has operated the panic button in the event of emergency, a sense of unease is increased if the user cannot recognize whether the occurrence of a panic state has been definitely communicated to the response center.
Further, the security device can repel a thief, and the MayDay System can take an action to search for a stolen car or prevent the startup of an engine. Another problem, however, is that a conventional security device cannot collect sufficient evidence to prove who is a thief, and hence is not sufficient from the viewpoint of a lawsuit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to enable the user to confirm whether a connection to the response center
12
has been completely established upon operation of the communication button
11
f
or the panic button
11
g
of the MayDay System, and whether an established communication line has been cut off.
A second object of the present invention is to enable a security device to collect sufficient evidence to prove who is a thief.
According to the present invention, the above first object is achieved by a vehicle-mounted system having the following features: (1) an LED capable of emitting light in two colors is provided in a security device, (2) the security device and an emergency communication service unit are connected in communication with one another, (3) when a connection to a response center is completely established upon operation o

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