ANTI-THEFT DEVICE FOR VEHICLES AND PORTABLE DEVICES

DISPOSITIF ANTIVOL POUR VEHICULES ET APPAREILS PORTATIFS

English Abstract

An alarm system (10) for use in a vehicle such as a bicycle, motorbike, quad
bike, etc or portable devices such as laptops, projectors or the like,
comprising a base (12) on which is mounted a vibration sensor (14), a
microprocessor (16) and a transceiver (18). A power supply (20), consisting
of batteries (22) are connected to the base (12) to provide power to the
vibration sensor (14), the microprocessor (16) and the transceiver (18). The
alarm system (10) can be part of the bicycle or portable device's locking
mechanism or the like.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE
DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An alarm system for use in a vehicle such as a bicycle, motorbike, quad
bike or the like, the alarm system comprising: i) sensing means for sensoring
unauthorised disturbance of the vehicle; and ii) transceiver means, operative
in response to an unauthorised disturbance of the vehicle sensed by the
sensing means; said sensing means and said transceiver means being capable
of being mounted or otherwise fixed or held within the body of the vehicle
or the locking mechanism, when in use.
2. An alarm system according to claim 1, comprising control means,
preferably micro-processor based, for controlling the operation of the
transceiver means.
3. An alarm system according to claim 2, wherein said control means is
capable of being mounted, fixed or otherwise held within the main body of
the vehicle or the locking mechanism.
4. An alarm system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein
said sensing means comprises a movement sensor, preferably a vibration or
tilt sensor.
5. An alarm system according to any one of the preceding claims,
comprising means for switching the alarm system between an active mode
and an inactive mode.
6. An alarm system according to claim 1 wherein said unit is substantially
enclosed within a (preferably waterproof) housing.
7. An alarm system for use in a vehicle such as a bicycle, motorbike, quad
bike or the like, the alarm system comprising: i) microcontroller with pre-set
ID; and ii) transceiver means, operative in response to a message from
central station to verify the presence of the remote alarm.

Description

CA 02615817 2008-01-21
Field of Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle security, particularly security of
two
wheeled vehicles, such as, most especially, bicycles, quad bicycles,
motorcycles and also, for portable devices, particularly laptop, projectors,
drills and the like.
Security for vehicles such as bicycles, quad bikes, motor bikes and the like
has long been a problem. Several locking devices, such as chain locks and
the like are widely used to shackle a bicycle to an immovable structure such
as a set of railings. However, such locks can be removed by cutting with bolt
cutters or the like. Another known type of lock is used to prevent movement
of one or both bicycle wheels. However, such a lock does not prevent the
bicycle from being physically lifted and carried away.
BackLyround of the Invention
It is known to provide an alarm unit for a bicycle, which unit comprises a
sensor, for example a tilt or vibration sensor, which causes activation of a
sounder or other alarm means in response to movement. The sounder, sensor
and associated control means and power supply are housed in a casing which
is bolted onto the frame of a bicycle or the lock mechanism. Once the alarm
unit is armed, if the bicycle is moved, the sounder is actuated to alert the
owner and/or passers-by that the bicycle is being tampered with, as well as
to act as a deterrent.
However, local sounders do not work as passer-by typically ignores the
sounder and noise is subject to noise pollution by-laws. Also such units
highly visible and accessible, such that it is relatively easily removed,
damaged or destroyed before the owner can return to claim the property.
Summary of the Invention
An improvement to known art is to `centralized alarm system' as shown in
figure 30, whereby the motion sensor (14) alarm is sent to alarm transceiver
32 via transceiver (18) and on to a alarm processor, such as PC (36), which
can record the theft of the bicycle, by the use of CCTV cameras (38) and
also the owner can be warned of the theft by the use of telephone (40) or

CA 02615817 2008-01-21
SMS service (42).
Typically, motion sensors are tripped when the bicycle is moved and also by
wind, heavy automobiles driving by or any other heavy motion close by.
These false triggers are reduced by having a guard, monitoring the CCTV
(38) output before calling the owner.
Brief Descriution of the DrawinLFs
In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred
embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 2 is a block diagram of the complete system
Detailed Descriation of the Invention
As shown in Figure 1, in one embodiment the present invention comprises a
transceiver system (10) which is mounted on base (12). The motion is sensed
by microcontroller (16) by the use of motion sensor (14). The system (10)
sends its ID and motion data via transceiver (18) to a remote transceiver.
Transceiver (32) monitors the transmission from system (10) and sends the
data (motion sensor data and ID of system (10)) to PC (36) via Local Area
Network (LAN) (34). On recite of data, the PC (36) moves the CCTV (38)
towards the proper bicycle rack (not shown). The owner can be warned,
automatically by PC (36) or a guard (not shown) can verify the image form
CCTV camera (38) to ensure the bicycle is being tampered with and then

CA 02615817 2008-01-21
warn the owner by the use of telephone (40) or via SMS service (42). The
images can also be recorded by PC (36) for use by the police. The present
invention can also be used to monitor tampering with parked automobiles &
similar objects, as any vibration will send a signal to a local receiver.
In an alternate embodiment, periodic messages are sent to system (10) by PC
(36) via LAN (34) and transceiver (32). This way the PC (36) can verify that
the bicycle or other portable device is present within the vicinity of the
transceiver (32). This feature can, also, be used to open private garage doors
or start parking meters and other similar applications.
This concept can also be used, to warn the owner when a pet or equipment
moves out of the vicinity or the range of the receiver.
A preferred embodiment of the invention having thus been described by way
of example only, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that
modifications and adaptations may be made without departing from the
scope of invention, as set out in the appended claims.

Representative Drawing