Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/20—Means to switch the anti-theft system on or off
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/10—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles actuating a signalling device
  • B60R25/1018—Alarm systems characterised by features related to the general power supply
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/10—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles actuating a signalling device
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/10—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles actuating a signalling device
  • B60R25/1004—Alarm systems characterised by the type of sensor, e.g. current sensing means

Definitions

• This invention relates to alarms and other systems, generally called “security systems”, emitting a signal, usually a whistle or other audible signal of suitably loud and penetrating quality, when a motor vehicle or other object or device is tampered with in some unauthorized manner by a potential thief or other unauthorized person, to whom I shall refer hereinafter as a "thief".
• the security systems to which the invention relates generally include:
• Exit/entry delay means, so that the author ⁇ ized user ("owner") of the device ( ' "car”) can enable/disable the system while, for a minimum time interval, he is inside the car or is otherwise so acting or in such a situation as would trigger the signal emitter had he been a thief;
• a detector of an "alarm condition" Means for activating the signal for a predetermined time interval (maximum is sometimes prescribed by law) after detection of alarm condition;
• Means for rendering useless the object of the attempted theft In the case of a motor vehicle this may involve disabling the ignition system when alarm condition has been detected; 8. A back-up battery or other suitable unit to provide power for activating a warning device when wires are cut or the security system is otherwise tampered with, and 9. A detector of a condition in which the object is in regular or authorized use e.g. when the car ignition is on or when the motor is running - to avoid or minimize the likelihood of actuating the alarm when the vehicle or other object is in lawful use.
• enabling/disabling means for a vehicle security system have included:- Hidden on/off switches; Key-switches ; Electronic combination key-pads;
• An object of the invention is to facilitate the installation of a motor vehicle security system.
• the present invention provides a security system for a motor vehicle or other apparatus having an engine bay or compartment and a control cabin separated therefrom, for emitting an alarm when the apparatus is tampered with, the system including a signal emitter and switch means for enabling or disabling the system, characterized in that the system including said- switch means is containable wholly within the engine bay and is operable independently of wiring to the control cabin, the switch means being not directly associated with cabin controls but with one or more points in the engine bay which is or are respons ⁇ ive to operation of a cabin control.
• Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the manner of installation of typical prior units, showing the need to drill holes from the dashboard into the engine bay.
• Fig. 2 shows, also in a general ⁇ ized manner, a system according to the present inven ⁇ tion and a manner of installing it;
• Figs. 3 and 4 show a system according to the invention in further detail;
• Fig. 5 shows how the invention can simplify installation of other automotive products, in this case an electric fan for a radiator, and
• Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an application of the invention to a motor car having an alarm triggered by current and/or voltage surge caused by turning on a boot or cabin light.
• Fig. 1 shows the lay-out of a typical known type of alarm applied to a motor car wherein fire-wall 7 separates engine bay and dashboard areas denoted generally by 8 and 9 respectively.
• Alarm unit 10 is activated by switch 11 responsive to an alarm condition and is wired in circuit with ignition coil 12 and also, through fire-wall 7, with an ignition switch and fuse-box, by way of leads 13, 14 respectively.
• Fig. 2 shows an arrangement in a practical embodiment of the- present invention, wherein the unit and connections are housed entirely within an engine bay.
• the unit is controlled by a remote-control transmitter 15. Power is obtained from the car battery 16.
• Switch 11 detects opening of the car's hood or "bonnet" .
• Fig. 3 shows components of the unit indicated generally by 10 in Figs. 2.
• a signal from transmitter 15 is picked up by antenna 17 of remote-control receiver 18 which is connected to ignition detector 19 and entry and exit delay circuits 20 and 21 respective ⁇ ly.
• Detector 19 is capable of detecting "ignition on” and "motor running” .
• the exit delay provided by 21 may be variable within suitable limits.
• This circuit is directly associated with mechanical switch, motion, shock/jacking and current-sensing detectors 22 to 25 inclusive, respectively. Each is responsive to an emergency situation indicated by various kinds of interference with the car.
• Mechanical switch detector 22 is connected to a 12-volt line 26 via switch 27, and to ground via switch 28.
• Ultra-sonic transducers 29 are associated with motion detector 23.
• Battery back- up 30, with tamper-sensing means, is connected across vehicle battery 16 and also to delay circuit 21 as shown.
• Central locking circuit 31 is connected via links 32, 33 and 34 to circuits for wind-up electric windows, for "unlock doors” (off) and “lock doors” (on) respectively, is also connected to receiver 18.
• Entry delay circuit 20 is connected to a concealed siren 35, and to the car horn and headlights 36 and 37 via pulsing relay 38. Circuit 20 is also connected via ignition disable relay 39 to the negative of coil 12, to the positive of which is connected ignition detector 19. Circuit 20 is further connected to solenoid 40 via relay 41 for starter motor, fuel valve or the like.
• Ignition detector circuit 19 is associated with wiper motor ' or alternator/generator circuit 42.
• control unit 43 includes back-up battery (shown as 30 in Fig. 3) , siren (35) and shock sensors (23 and/or 24) . Also associated with the unit shown generally as 43 are door/bonnet/boot etc. switches 44, a power/current sensing circuit 45 and an ignition/"motor running" detection circuit 46 with connections 47 to the car ignition switch and 48 to the generator and/or alternator regulator.
• Circuit 49 is for detection of "motor running” and includes coil 40, ignition disable switch 41 and distributor 51.
• Unit 44 also has a connection 52 to a central locking function.
• Fig. 5 shows how the invention may be applied to activate fan 52 only when the car engine is running at a desired minimum speed.
• Circuit 54 monitors the switching frequency on the positive terminal of coil 12 and, when appropriate, provides a suitable voltage output to relay 53.
• Fig. 6 shows how the invention can be applied to a car wherein an alarm is triggered by current and/or voltage surge caused by turning on a boot or cabin light.
• opening of a boot or "trunk" compartment 55 causes ignition of a small light-globe 56 to light the boot interior, and a higher-powered light-globe 57 in cabin area 58 is ignited merely by lifting or some other operation on a door-handle prior to opening the door.
• the system described according to the first form of the present invention used a basic five-wire system with all wires connected to points in the engine bay which are electrically or otherwise- activated in direct or indirect response to the activation of a control in the cabin e.g. by switching on an ignition switch.
• This greatly reduced installation time - sometimes to as little as 20 minutes.
• the basic idea is to simplify installation by avoiding the need to penetrate fire-walls and the like to run the necessary wiring.
• the first system of the present invention used current-sensing to monitor the vehicle's doors and boot.
• Two current (or voltage-drop) sensing detectors are incorporated into the alarm system.
• the first is adjustable to trigger on a small current surge caused by or typical of igniting the boot interior lamp, which in turn is caused by actually opening the boot lid and not merely by idle playing with the boot lid handle.
• the second is adjustable to trigger on a larger current surge corresponding to igniting the cabin interior light.
• the first detector is activated.
• both detectors When the door is opened (or the handle lifted) both detectors are activated.
• the two detector outputs can be electroni- cally processed e.g. by logic circuits or in any other known manner, to determine whether the boot has been opened or-the door handle operate .
• a movement detector is placed inside cabin 58. This movement detector detects movement within the cabin area (and also the opening of doors) . When a movement is detected, this unit switches an electrical load 60 across the vehicle's electrical system. This load has electrical characteristics similar to the boot lamp 56. Therefore we use the- same analysis of current surge (or voltage drop) to determine whether the boot lid has opened or whether the ⁇ movement detector has triggered. The current surge resulting from the mere opening of cabin doors or lifting of door handles is completely ignored.
• the unit can be installed by mounting the central unit 10 in engine bay 8 (as in the first form) and connecting the five wires to i) Battery positive ii) Battery negative iii) coil negative (or similar functional point) iv) coil positive (or similar functional point) v) Switch 61 in bonnet to detect opening
• movement detector 59 mounted within cabin 58.
• movement detector triggering is detected by the car alarm as a current surge (or voltage drop) across the vehicle's electrical system.
• the opening of the boot (and turning on of lamp in the boot) is also detected as a current surge.
• Lifting of door handles causes a "larger" current surge (or voltage drop) than the boot lamp or movement detector.
• a larger current surge (or voltage drop) results due to there being many lamps inside the cabin and the lamps are also more powerful than those in the boot. This detection is therefore ignored.
• Some cars have very low power lamps to facilitate insertion of keys into locks etc. Such lamps could be harmlessly activated in like manner to the interior cabin light. Current and/or voltage surges due to such lamps can be electronically ignored in the same way.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Burglar Alarm Systems (AREA)
• Alarm Systems (AREA)
• Emergency Alarm Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=25643356

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (3)

Citations (1)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1988
  • 1988-09-02 EP EP19880907555 patent/EP0379505A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1988-09-02 WO PCT/AU1988/000337 patent/WO1989002379A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1988-09-14 CN CN88106764A patent/CN1031969A/zh active Pending
• 1989
  • 1989-05-13 KR KR1019890700844A patent/KR890701394A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1990
  • 1990-03-12 GB GB9005550A patent/GB2228816A/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (1)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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