Vehicle security apparatus and method

Claim 2

Anti-theft apparatus adapted to interconnect with an electronic control circuit of a motor-powered vehicle and operative to selectively disrupt the control circuit to disable said vehicle, comprising: (a) a transmitter adapted to be carried by a driver of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency; (b) a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver including timer circuitry and operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal only after said receiver fails to receive said broadcast signal for a selected time duration; and (c) a switch circuit including a switch element interposed in the control circuit of said vehicle, said switch element having a switch active state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is operative and a switch inactive state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is disrupted, said switch circuit operative in response to said out-of-range signal to cause said switch element to change from the switch active state to the switch inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle.

Claim 3

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said switch circuit is operative to lock said switch element in the switch inactive state in response to the out-of-range signal.

Claim 4

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 2 including a reset circuit that is selectively actuatable to unlock said switch element from the switch inactive state.

Claim 5

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said selected time duration is approximately five seconds.

Claim 6

Anti-theft apparatus adapted for use with a motor-powered vehicle including an operator compartment with an access door and that has an electronic control circuit and an electronic door monitoring circuit operative to sense an opening of said door, said apparatus operative to disrupt said control circuit to disable said vehicle, comprising: (a) a transmitter adapted to be carried by a driver of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency; (b) a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal; (c) a switch circuit including a switch element interposed in the control circuit of said vehicle, said switch element having a switch active state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is operative and a switch inactive state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is disrupted; and (d) a detector circuit interconnected to said door monitoring circuit and operative in response to the opening of said door to produce an arming signal, said switch circuit operative in response to a presence of both said arming signal and said out-of-range signal to produce a disable signal, said switch element responsive to said disable signal to change from the switch active state to the switch inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle.

Claim 7

Anti-theft apparatus adapted for use with a motor-powered vehicle including an operator compartment with an access door and that has an electronic control circuit and an electronic door monitoring circuit operative to sense an opening of said door, said apparatus operative to disrupt said control circuit to disable said vehicle, comprising: (a) a transmitter adapted to be carried by a driver of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency; (b) a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal; (c) a switch circuit including a switch element interposed in the control circuit of said vehicle, said switch element having a switch active state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is operative and a switch inactive state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is disrupted; and (d) a detector circuit interconnected to said door monitoring circuit and operative in response to the opening of said door to produce an arming signal, said switch circuit operative in response to a presence of both said arming signal and said out-of-range signal to produce a disable signal, said switch element responsive to said disable signal to change from the switch active state to the switch inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle.

Claim 8

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said detector circuit includes a time-out sub-circuit operative to discontinue the arming signal following a time interval after the opening of said door.

Claim 9

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said time interval is selected to be in a range of two to five minutes.

Claim 10

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 including timer circuitry associated with said receiver whereby said out-of-range signal is produced only after said receiver fails to receive said broadcast signal for a selected time duration.

Claim 11

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 including a reset circuit that may be selectively actuated to produce a reset signal, said switch control signal responsive to said reset signal to discontinue said disable signal.

Claim 12

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 including a signal loss indicator operative to indicate production of said out-of-range signal.

Claim 13

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 including an armed state indicator operative to indicate production of said arming signal.

Claim 14

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 5 including a disable indicator operative to indicate production of said disable signal.

Claim 15

In a motor-powered vehicle adapted to be operated by an operator and having an electronic control circuit that allows said vehicle to function and that disables said vehicle when disrupted, the improvement comprising a switch element interposed in the control circuit and having an active state whereby said control circuit is operative and an inactive state whereby said control circuit is disrupted, a transmitter adapted to be carried by the operator of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency, a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal, an event detector operative to sense an occurrence of a selected event and to produce an arming signal in response to the occurrence, and a switch circuit operative in response to said out-of-range signal to cause said switch element to change from said active state to said inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle only when said arming signal is present.

Claim 16

In a motor-powered vehicle adapted to be operated by an operator and having an electronic control circuit that allows said vehicle to function and that disables said vehicle when disrupted, the improvement comprising a switch element interposed in the control circuit and having an active state whereby said control circuit is operative and an inactive state whereby said control circuit is disrupted, a transmitter adapted to be carried by the operator of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency, a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal, an event detector operative to sense an occurrence of a selected event and to produce an arming signal in response to the occurrence, and a switch circuit operative in response to said out-of-range signal to cause said switch element to change from said active state to said inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle only when said arming signal is present.

Claim 17

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said event detector monitors a door of said vehicle and produces said arming signal in response to an opening of said door.

Claim 18

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 14 wherein said vehicle includes an electronic door monitoring circuit operative to detect the opening of said door, and wherein said event detector is electrically connected to said door monitoring circuit.

Claim 19

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 13 including timer circuitry associated with said receiver whereby said out-of-range signal is produced only after said receiver fails to receive said broadcast signal for a selected time duration.

Claim 20

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said event detector includes a time-out circuit operative to discontinue the arming signal following a time interval after the occurrence of the event.

Claim 23

The method according to claim 18 including the step of monitoring for an occurrence of a selected event and wherein the step of changing said switch element from the switch active state to the switch inactive state occurs only if the distance of separation exceeds the threshold distance within a selected interval of time following occurrence of the selected event.

Claim 24

The method according to claim 19 wherein said vehicle has an operator compartment door and wherein the selected event is an opening of the door of said vehicle.

Claim 25

The method according to claim 20 wherein said vehicle has a door monitoring circuit operative to sense the opening of said door, the step of monitoring for the opening of said door being accomplished by monitoring said door monitoring circuit.

Claim 26

Anti-theft apparatus adapted to interconnect with an electronic control circuit of a motor-powered vehicle and operative to selectively disrupt the control circuit to disable said vehicle, comprising: (a) a transmitter adapted to be carried by a driver of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency; (b) a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal; (c) an event detector operative to sense an occurrence of a selected event and to produce an arming signal in response to the occurrence; and (d) a switch circuit including a switch element interposed in the control circuit of said vehicle, said switch element having a switch active state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is operative and a switch inactive state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is disrupted, said switch circuit operative in response to said out-of-range signal to cause said switch element to change from the switch active state to the switch inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle only when said arming signal is present.

Claim 27

Anti-theft apparatus adapted to interconnect with an electronic control circuit of a motor-powered vehicle and operative to selectively disrupt the control circuit to disable said vehicle, comprising: (a) a transmitter adapted to be carried by a driver of the vehicle and operative to produce a broadcast signal of selected frequency; (b) a receiver adapted to be carried by said vehicle and operative to receive the broadcast signal when said transmitter is within a communication range, said receiver operative to produce an out-of-range signal when said receiver fails to receive the broadcast signal; (c) an event detector operative to sense an occurrence of a selected event and to produce an arming signal in response to the occurrence; and (d) a switch circuit including a switch element interposed in the control circuit of said vehicle, said switch element having a switch active state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is operative and a switch inactive state wherein the control circuit of said vehicle is disrupted, said switch circuit operative in response to said out-of-range signal to cause said switch element to change from the switch active state to the switch inactive state thereby disrupting said control circuit to disable said vehicle only when said arming signal is present.

Claim 28

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 22 wherein said event detector includes a time-out circuit operative to discontinue the arming signal following a time interval after the occurrence of the event.

Claim 29

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 23 wherein said time interval is selected to be in a range of two to ten minutes.

Claim 30

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 22 wherein said event detector monitors a door of said vehicle and produces said arming signal in response to an opening of said door.

Claim 31

Anti-theft apparatus according to claim 25 wherein said vehicle includes an electronic door monitoring circuit operative to detect the opening of said door, and wherein said event detector is electrically connected to said door monitoring circuit.