Vehicle site protection system

Details Vehicle site protection system Vehicle site protection system

1993-07-22

1997-03-18

Hofsass, Jeffery

Communications: electrical

Land vehicle alarms or indicators

Of burglary or unauthorized use

340429, 340541, 34082549, G08B 1300

Patent

active

056126689

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to vehicle protection systems.


BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In many instances where vehicles are left in areas to which the public have relatively easy access, there exist the dual problems of firstly theft of or from the vehicles, and secondly damage to the vehicles. It is now common to use a so-called "car alarm" in certain vehicles which may be sensitive to an intrusion (using, for instance, an ultrasonic detector) but these have several limitations: (1) due to the high number of false alarms they are often ignored; (2) they are difficult to install and remove quickly from a variety of vehicles; (3) they do not allow for centralised control of a number of such alarms; and (4) they are of little use in areas that are relatively sparsely populated.
There is, therefore, a clear need for an improved vehicle protection system.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle site protection system for use in protecting a plurality of parked vehicles on said site from interference, the system comprising a control unit located on or at the periphery of said site and arranged to activate an alarm signalling means in response to receipt of a signal from one of a plurality of sensor units, each sensor unit being positioned in a respective one of the vehicles, each sensor unit comprising a sensor and a transmission means activatable to send a signal to the control unit in response to output from the sensor, there being no physical connection between the control unit and the transmission means, characterised in that each sensor unit is self-contained and self-powered and comprises a shock sensor and a sensor capable of detecting motion of an object within the vehicle.
The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings that follow; in which:


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the present invention in use;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing the configuration and operation of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram also representing the operation of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a further embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of yet another embodiment of the invention.


DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a vehicle 2 on which is mounted a sensor 4, which is itself connected to a transmission means 6 also mounted on the vehicle 2. In this case the sensor 4 and the transmission means 6 are mounted within the vehicle 2. Although the vehicle 2 shown is clearly a car, the invention is applicable to other vehicles such as motor cycles, boats, caravans, plants etc.
Also shown schematically in FIG. 1 is a control unit 8 and an alarm 10. The alarm 10 may be any device or means intended to attract attention to the vehicle 2, examples of suitable alarms 10 will be given below.
FIG. 2 shows the preferred construction of the system in block diagram form. FIG. 3 explains the operation of the system in flow diagram format which may be understood with reference to the key set out below.


______________________________________ KEY ______________________________________ 100- START 101- Has the ultrasonic scanner 12 detected an interference? 102- Has the piezo-crystal sensor 14 detected an interference? 103- In the control unit 8 armed? 104- Activate first-stage alarm. 105- Activate siren 16. 106- Activate stroboscopic light source 18. 107- Activate vocal alarm through speakers 22. 108- Has another interference been detected within the first pre-set time period? 109- Activate second-stage alarm. 110- Activate auto-dialler 20. 111- Activate 2kW lighting source 24. ______________________________________
The sensor 4 includes a detector of movement within the vehicle 2, such as an ultrasonic scanner 12, and a shock and motion detector, such as a piezo-crystal sensor 14 which can be set to be capable of

REFERENCES:
patent: 3710371 (1973-01-01), Whalen et al.
patent: 3864675 (1975-02-01), Colibert
patent: 4067411 (1978-01-01), Conley et al.
patent: 4167733 (1979-09-01), Krause et al.
patent: 4187497 (1980-02-01), Howell et al.
patent: 4284973 (1981-08-01), Howell et al.
patent: 4821309 (1989-04-01), Namekawa
patent: 4990890 (1991-02-01), Newby
patent: 5319698 (1994-06-01), Glidewell et al.
patent: 5373282 (1994-12-01), Carter
International Search Report for PCT/GB91/02193.

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