U.S. patent application number 09/953764 was filed with the patent office on 2002-01-24 for hand held car locator.
This patent application is currently assigned to Siemens Automotive Corporation. Invention is credited to Desai, Tejas, Johnson, Susan.
Application Number | 20020008660 09/953764 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22562638 |
Filed Date | 2002-01-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020008660 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Johnson, Susan ; et
al. |
January 24, 2002 |
Hand held car locator
Abstract
A car locator system includes a hand held locator which receives
information with regard to the location of a vehicle and then
stores that information for display on the hand held locator. The
hand held locator could be a key fob having buttons to command
operation to the vehicle. When a command signal is transmitted to
the vehicle, the vehicle then transmits its position location to
the hand held location for storage. In this way, an operator will
be able to have an indication of the location of the vehicle. The
vehicle can communicate with GPS satellites to determine its
location, or may communicate with ground based local transmitters.
The ground based local transmitters can be programmed to provide an
indication of the location of the vehicle within a parking lot.
Inventors: |
Johnson, Susan; (Rochester,
MI) ; Desai, Tejas; (Sterling Heights, MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LAURA M. SLENZAK
SIEMENS CORPORATION
186 WOOD AVENUE SOUTH
ISELIN
NJ
08830
US
|
Assignee: |
Siemens Automotive
Corporation
|
Family ID: |
22562638 |
Appl. No.: |
09/953764 |
Filed: |
September 18, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09953764 |
Sep 18, 2001 |
|
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|
09572923 |
May 16, 2000 |
|
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60157176 |
Sep 30, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
342/357.75 ;
701/487 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08G 1/205 20130101;
B60R 25/33 20130101; G08G 1/14 20130101; G08G 1/123 20130101; B60W
2556/50 20200201 |
Class at
Publication: |
342/357.07 ;
701/213 |
International
Class: |
G01S 001/00 |
Claims
1. A method of providing an indication of a location of a vehicle
when parked comprising the steps of: (1) determining the location
of a vehicle; (2) transmitting the location information to a hand
held locator; and (3) storing said information in said hand held
locator for later retrieval.
2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a GPS satellite provides
information to the vehicle of its location which is then
transmitted to the hand held locator.
3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a local ground based
transmitter provides vehicle location information of the vehicle,
and the vehicle then transmits that information to the hand held
locator.
4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the local transmitter
transmits a location directly to the hand held locator.
5. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the hand held locator
is a key fob for sending commands to the vehicle, and the
transmission of the vehicle location to the hand held locator
occurs when a signal is sent from the key fob to the vehicle.
6. A method as set forth in claim 5, wherein said signal is a
command to the vehicle from the key fob.
7. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the transmitting of
step 2 occurs passively when an event occurs at the vehicle.
8. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein said event is the
locking of the vehicle doors.
9. A hand held locator comprising: a display for displaying the
location of a vehicle; a memory for storing the location of a
vehicle for display on said hand held locator; and a receiver for
receiving location information with regard to the location of a
vehicle.
10. A locator as set forth in claim 9, wherein said hand held
locator is a key fob including buttons for commanding instructions
to the vehicle.
11. A locator as set forth in claim 9, wherein said key fob
includes a door lock button, and actuation of said button initiates
the transmission of a vehicle location information to said key fob
for storage.
12. A system for identifying the location of a vehicle comprising:
a position transmitter for transmitting location information to a
hand held locator with regard to the location of a vehicle; and a
hand held locator for receiving said information, storing said
information, and for displaying said stored information.
13. A system as set forth in claim 12, wherein a GPS satellite
transmits vehicle location to said vehicle.
14. A system as set forth in claim 12, wherein a local transmitter
transmits a location signal to a vehicle, said vehicle including a
receiver for receiving said location signal, and further including
a transmitter for transmitting said information to said hand held
locator.
15. A system as set forth in claim 12, wherein said hand held
locator is a key fob having buttons for commanding action of said
vehicle.
16. A system as set forth in claim 13, wherein said position
transmitter is a ground based local transmitter transmitting
information to said hand held locator.
17. A system as set forth in claim 16, wherein said local
transmitter includes information with regard to a position in a
large parking lot.
18. A system as set forth in claim 12, wherein said position
transmitter transmitting location to a hand held locator passively
when an event occurs at said vehicle.
19. A system as set forth in claim 18, wherein said event is the
locking of the vehicle doors.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a system wherein a car position is
transmitted to a hand held locator, such that the operator will be
able to more easily find a vehicle when parked. Modern vehicles are
provided with a number of electronic features. As one example, many
modern vehicles are provided with a GPS navigation system which
provides some information with regard to approximate location of
the vehicle. This information can provide an approximate address
for a location of the vehicle.
[0002] Further, most vehicles are provided with hand held key fobs
which include a number of electronic commands for the vehicle. As
an example, the key fob will command the vehicle doors to lock and
unlock.
[0003] One deficiency with modern vehicles, is there has been no
practical way of storing the location of a vehicle when parked in a
large parking area. As an example, when a vehicle is parked in a
large parking lot, there is no practical way of providing
information to the vehicle operator of where the vehicle is parked.
Similarly, if parked on a city street, there has been no simple way
of providing the operator with feedback of where the vehicle was
parked.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In a disclosed embodiment of this invention, information
with regard to the location of a vehicle is transmitted to a hand
held locator when the vehicle is parked. As one example, the hand
held locator may be a key fob; however, other hand held devices may
be provided with this function. In one embodiment, when the key fob
is actuated to lock the vehicle doors, the vehicle sends a signal
to the key fob of the location of the vehicle. In one simple
embodiment, the information transmitted to the key fob may be GPS
navigation system information. This information will prove
sufficient if the vehicle is parked on a city street, as the
information should provide accurate information of approximate
address. However, with modern GPS navigation systems, there is no
reference point in a large potential parking area such as a parking
lot.
[0005] Thus, in a second embodiment of this invention, localized
position locating transmitter may be positioned at locations around
a city, or in a particular parking area. Those local positioning
transmitters will provide the vehicle with an indication of its
location within a parking lot, or other potential large parking
area. Then, when the position information is transmitted to the
hand held locator, it is this localized information which is
downloaded to the hand held locator. The technology utilized to
receive, interpret and then transmit this information can be
similar to that utilized for GPS navigation systems. Further, the
technology necessary to provide these local transmitters is also
within the skill of a worker in this art. It is the application of
such a system which is inventive here.
[0006] Further, as GPS databases increase in detail, it may well be
that they will be able to provide information on particular parking
lot locations. Further, the local transmitter such as mentioned
above could be a local GPS correction device. GPS systems are known
which have reference points located around a particular area. The
reference points allow a GPS navigation system to pinpoint the
reference points, and thus adjust the location of the vehicle by
working from the known reference point. This feature, and in
particular in combination with increased detail in the databases,
will provide the ability to display specific information about the
location in a parking lot.
[0007] These and other features of the present invention can be
best understood from the following specification and drawings, the
following of which is a brief description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of this
invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the second embodiment.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a plan view of an inventive key.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a view of a first display embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a view of a second display embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] A vehicle locator system 20 is illustrated in FIG. 1
receiving information from a GPS satellite 22. The vehicle 24 is
shown parked. The satellite 22 will communicate with the vehicle
such that the vehicle 24 can interpret the satellite signal and
determine its approximate location. Then, a hand held locator 26 is
actuated by the user by pushing a button 28, the vehicle 24 sends
its position information to the hand held locator 26. The locator
26 preferably has an RF/LF transmitter receiver to communicate as
described in this application. In a preferred embodiment, the hand
held locator is a key fob, and the button 28 is the door lock
function. The locator 26 is modified to have an appropriate memory
to store this information. Thus, when the operator actuates the
door lock function, the vehicle 24 sends a signal to the key fob 26
of where the vehicle is located. As an alternative, any other
signal indicative of the vehicle being locked would be utilized. As
an example, the actuation of the sending of the signal to the key
fob could occur entirely at the vehicle without any signal from the
key fob. As an example, if the doors are locked at the vehicle is
turned off, the signal may be sent. Thus, the signal could be
generated upon the locking of the door, rather than upon the
receipt of a signal from the key fob. The above described system
has two potential deficiencies. First, while the accuracy of GPS
navigation systems are being continuously improved, they are still
somewhat inaccurate within a degree of several yards. Moreover, the
GPS navigation systems provide address information with regard to
streets. Such information is not very valuable within a large
parking lot.
[0014] Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, local transmitters 30 can be
utilized to communicate with the vehicle 24. Again, the vehicle 24
is provided with a receiver to receive the information, which may
be essentially identical to its normal GPS receiver. The local
transmitter 30 provides information with regard to a location in a
parking lot, or more accurate information with regard to a position
on a city street. Local transmitters 30 thus allow the vehicle 24
to communicate with the key fob 26 and provide very accurate
information of the location of a vehicle, including its position
within a parking lot. Alternatively, transmitter 30 can supply
information directly to the locator 26. If the download occurs at
the time the vehicle is locked, then the transmitter storing the
locator information on the locator would put the operator very
close to the vehicle.
[0015] The FIG. 2 embodiment is also representative of a modified
GPS locator system. In this embodiment, the members 30 could be GPS
reference points. It is known that GPS reference points are located
at certain locations to allow a GPS navigation system to focus its
position to a more exact location. Such information combined with
an increase in detail in the GPS database will allow the
identification of a particular location in a large parking lot,
etc. Thus, the FIG. 2 embodiment could also extend to such an
arrangement.
[0016] FIG. 3 shows the key fob 26 having its switch 28, and a
display screen 32 for displaying the location of a vehicle.
[0017] As shown in FIG. 4, in a first embodiment, the display could
simply display address information. The embodiment of FIG. 1 would
be capable of providing such a display function.
[0018] It may also be that the standard GPS navigation systems will
be improved such that location within a parking lot will also be
part of a standard GPS navigation system. If such development
occurs, then the embodiment of FIG. 1 will also provide information
of the location within a parking lot, such as shown in FIG. 5.
[0019] Also, the FIG. 2 embodiment would provide information of the
location within a parking lot, if properly programmed.
[0020] Essentially, the present invention allows a hand held
locator to be provided with location information from a vehicle
when the operator exits the vehicle. In this way, the operator is
reminded of the location of the vehicle, and will be able to find
the vehicle. The technology necessary for this invention is well
within the skill of a worker within the art. It is the application
of the technology to the particular problem which is inventive
here.
[0021] Although preferred embodiments of this invention have been
disclosed, a worker in this art would recognize that certain
modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For
that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine
the true scope and content of this invention.
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