GB2385374A - System for remotely stopping vehicle engines - Google Patents

Abstract

A hand-held transmitter unit, eg operated by the police, sends signals to a receiver mounted in the rear of the vehicle and connected to the vehicle's ignition system enabling the engine to be stopped remotely and avoiding the need for a high-speed pursuit. A reset code would be needed to restart the engine. The system may operate using infra-red, laser or radio signals. The system could also produce juddering or interference to the smooth running of the vehicle. Removal or tampering with the receiver could result in immobilisation.

Description

r 2385374 TED? ZAPPER

1. DESCRIPTION

The product being considered, is The Zapper. The concept calls for the manufacture and installation of a device in cars and trucks that would be wired to the vehicle's ignition system and would respond to a remotely generated signal from a transmitter unit operated by a police officer.

The concept would work in conjunction with the module installed in a vehicle's engine system that controls the electrical power supply and which is connected to the vehicle's ignition system. The control unit would be a hand-held infrared mechanism that would be carried by authorised police personnel. Should a police officer encounter a situation where a driver refuses to respond to the officer's signal to pull over and stop, the officer would simply point the hand-held control unit at the targeted vehicle and press the activation button This then would cause the vehicle's engine to shut off. With this configuration, a police officer would not be faced with the possibility of a suspect refusing to obey the officer's connnands to pull over.

Certainly, in many instances where a motorist is pulled over by a police officer he or she immediately complies with the command. However, in instances where a driver attempts to flee, particularly when the situation involves a stolen vehicle or something more serious than a traffic infraction has occurred and the suspect is attempting to escape from the scene of a crime, the police officer in pursuit would be able to simply engage The Zapper and thus bring the suspect's vehicle to a complete halt. In this manner, police officers would not be required to engage in high speed pursuits, which can endanger themselves as well as other motorists and pedestrians in the area, and would be more likely to apprehend potentially dangerous suspects who are tong to flee from a crime scene or those who pose a danger to themselves or others by attempting to elude a police officer in pursuit of a stolen vehicle.

2. PRODUCT BENEFITS

The success of The Zapper will ultimately depend on the benefits it delivers to consumers.

To define the potential benefits offered by The Zapper, and hence to determine what will motivate people to buy it, we must first differentiate between "benefits" and "features." Features are the more obvious characteristics of products but are not necessarily what actually drive the consumer's purchasing motivation. For example, the television remote control device has become one of the more common household items in use today. Typically, a remote control is rectangular in shape, black in colour, has buttons on one side, runs off small batteries, and contains electronic components that send coded messages to a receiving unit on a TV, VCR, or stereo.

All of those elements are features which, on their own, would hardly inspire such wide consumer purchase behaviour. What has made this device so popular is the benefit these features deliver--convenience. Can you perform all the functions offered by a remote control turns the machine on and off, changing stations, raising or lowering the volume, etc.- without the aid of this device? Of course you can. Is it easier with the remote? Yes. Is it faster with the remote? Much Therefore, when people look at a remote control device they do not "see" a hard plastic box with several small buttons on it. Rather, they envision themselves sitting

comfortably in their favourite chair or stretched out nicely on the couch while commanding their entertainment equipment to perform as they wish simply by pointing this little magic box and pushing the appropriate button.

As we seek to identify the benefits of The Zapper, we must carry out the same exercise. We must also address the issue of consumer "needs" versus "wants," a line that is often difficult, if not impossible, to clearly define. In general, needs relate to hard elements pertaining to ones very survival. You need shelter from the weather.

You need clothes to wear and food to eat. If you are sick you need proper treatment and the right medicines. However, you may want a large, spacious home with a beautiful view through the front bay window and a swimming pool in the back yard.

You may want top line designer fashions. You may want to dine out at nice restaurants every night. You may want lots of leisure time to engage in sports or other recreational activities.

When it comes to defining a benefit package that will inspire a significant number of consumers to purchase your product, both hard needs and wishful wants are equally valid. While we might like to think of ourselves as rational beings that strive to make choices in our best interest, the reality ofthe market place indicates otherwise. People make purchasing decisions for a wide range of reasons, some logical but many based purely on whim. We must, then, focus in on the most compelling factors that will cause members of the target audience for The Zapper to take notice of the product and to then make a favourable purchasing decision.

The primary benefits offered by The Zapper would be increased safety on the roadways, improved job performance for the police officers, and a reduction in the number of motor vehicles stolen. The safety benefit would be realised by the way in which this device would prevent the potentially dangerous situation of a driver attempting to flee from the police. When the police engage such a suspect in a high-

speed chase, both the police officer and the suspect, as well as all other drivers, passengers and pedestrians in the area, are exposed to considerable risk. Often, such chases end with tragic consequences when either the suspect or the police officer, or both, are killed or injured when the chase ends in a high-speed crash Perhaps more tragic still are those situations where the suspect's vehicle or police cruiser collide with another vehicle or strike innocent pedestrians who are simply walking along minding their own business.

The Zapper would eliminate such situations, at least when the vehicle being pursued is equipped with this feature. By simply engaging the transrndtter unit, the officer would be able to kill the engine in the suspect's vehicle, thus avoiding the need for a highspeed pursuit and thereby assuring that neither the suspect nor the officer nor any innocent drivers or pedestrians in the area ace exposed to any potential injury.

In addition to the safety offered by this feature, the installation of this device would also help police officers execute their duties in a more efficient manner. Even where the vehicle being pursued is not attempting to flee from a crime scene at a high rate of speed, the officer would still be better able to stop a reluctant motorist who simply does not respond to the command to pull over, whether due to inattention, belligerence, or intoxication. In any such situation, the officer would be able to

in. " '? ' ! 3 quickly stop the targeted vehicle and thus could execute the duties at hand more quickly and get back on the road to monitor the actions of other drivers.

The incorporation of this system into motor vehicles would also reduce the likelihood that a would-be thief would even be inclined to make an attempt to steal a vehicle famed with some form of identification that indicates this system has been installed Upon seeing this notice, the thief may very well decide that the chances of being apprehended are just too high and hence he or she may go looking for easier targets for his or her larcenous pursuits.

When we combine the broad appeal of The Zapper with the strong security and safety benefits it offers, we see that this product could be capable of generating interest among a very wide segment of the consuming public. Overall, we would consider the primary target audience for The Zapper to be made up of anyone in the market for a new vehicle who wishes to add an additional measure of safety to reduce the risk of the vehicle being stolen. Anti-theft devices are, of course, already widely used in cars and trucks. The Zapper simply takes that concept one step further and enables the car owner to enjoy a higher level of peace of mind from knowing that if his or her car is stolen, law enforcement officials would then be better able to bring the vehicle to a stop and thus recover the vehicle before any damage, injury, or even death could occur. In a broader sense, should the law enforcement community fully endorse this concept, it may eventually be incorporated into vehicles as a required piece of equipment, thus eliminating any choice on the part of the purchaser as to whether or not the vehicle is equipped with this device. This, however, would require the approval of the appropriate legislative body that has jurisdiction over such issues and such processes typically take a considerable amount of time. As such, we would consider the more immediate market focus to be directed toward private vehicle owners who would choose to have this device installed for their own peace of mind. The most compelling psychographic criterion would be a high sensitivity level toward products that add an extra measure of security to prevent the loss of a motor vehicle. This trait, of course, cuts across a wide segment ofthe vehicle-owng public.

A. To be displayed in car window WARNING

THIS VEHICLE IS FITTED

WITH AN AUTO SEIUT DOWN SYSTEM.

Yellow florescent background with white florescent letters night time warning sticker

5::' To add to the feature of the remote control instead of infrared could also operate by radio signals or laser.

To add also to bring the vehicle to a halt could be interference to the running of the vehicle i.e. Juddering or interference to the smooth operation ofthe vehicle.

Once the vehicle has been immobilised a reset or code could be added to the control to start the vehicle. I thing there a re a number of options available to the manufacture.

Also if the infrared receiver was pulled out ofthe rear ofthe vehicle or tampered with would result in the vehicle being imunobilised and a reset code needed to operate the vehicle in a normal way.

The main idea is to save lives and giving the police easier ways to bring a vehicle to a halt.

List of figures Figure 1 shows a police hand-held control unit.

Figure 2 shows a bumper mounted inDa-red receiver connected to the engine management system.

Figure 3 shows the police hand-held control unit and the vehicle with infra-red receiver.

Claims (6)

-x The Claim

1. A device linked to the EMS of all production vehicles to be used by the police and other law enforcement agencies to bring stolen vehicles to a controlled and safe stop.

2. A device as claimed in the preceding claim which can be activated remotely by a hand held transmitter or by satellite through the use of either infra-red, radio or radar instruction or other high frequency signal.

3. A device as claimed in any preceding claim which activates automatically if tampered with or damaged.

4. A device as claimed in any preceding claim which is activated via an unique signal which is transmitted to the EMS of a vehicle via receivers mounted on the exterior body work of the subject vehicle.

5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim which can only be reset by an authorised person.

6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim which can be activated by any person so authorised. This might include the Police, other law enforcement agency or profit making private body.