Video storage and delay device for use with an in-car video system

#This invention is related generally to surveillance systems, and more particularly to a video storage and delay device for use with an in-car video system.

#Vehicle-mounted surveillance systems, including in-car video systems, are seeing increased use in the security industry and law enforcement community as an effective means to provide an indisputable video and audio record of encounters involving officers and citizens. In these systems, a video camera is typically mounted on the police car's dashboard or windshield and is generally arranged to have a field of view of the area to the immediate front of the car. The field of view approximately corresponds to what an officer would see when seated in the car's front seat.

#The video camera is operably coupled to a recording device, such as a video cassette recorder (“VCR”), mounted in the police car, often in the trunk. Generally, video recordings are not made continuously during routine police patrol. Instead, to reduce videotape costs and avoid excessive wear and tear on the recording equipment (particularly, the recording heads), recordings are made only during incidents of interest, such as traffic stops and pursuits, for which an evidentiary record is desired. A videotape recording may be started manually by the officer, or in some systems, the videotaping is started automatically when, for example, the officer activates the police car's emergency systems (such as overhead lights and/or sirens), or when a vehicle speed-measuring radar unit is operated.

#FIG. 1 is a simplified functional block diagram of an illustrative arrangement of the present invention and depicts an in-car video surveillance system including a windshield mounted camera and trunk-mounted video recorder, a wireless microphone, a rear seat microphone, a control head, a video monitor, and a video storage and delay device;

#FIG. 2 depicts the sequential storage of a real time video stream used to create a time-delayed video stream, in accordance with the invention;

#FIG. 3 depicts a group of timelines showing that the present invention provides an ability to create a permanent record of an event that begins prior to the activation of the in-car video recorder;

#Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a simplified functional block diagram of an illustrative arrangement of the present invention. Shown is in-car video system 100 that includes a camera 110 that is typically mounted to look out through the windshield and/or rear window of the car. The in-car video system 100 further includes a rear seat microphone 185, video monitor 120, control head 170, and a video storage and delay device 150. Each of these components is coupled via a wiring bus 135, as shown in FIG. 1, that provides signal and power connections in a conventional manner.

#A video recorder 162, for example a VCR, is coupled to the video storage and delay device 150 by wiring bus 155. Thus, in accordance with the invention, video storage and delay device 150 may be arranged to be connected serially between the signal sources (i.e., camera 110 and microphones 125 and 185) and video recorder 162, as shown in FIG. 1. Video storage and delay device 150 is typically embodied in a small enclosure that may be located in a convenient area of the vehicle including the passenger compartment (such as in glove box, under the dashboard or front seat, or in the electronic and emergency equipment console that is typically located in the center area of the vehicle by the front seats) or in the trunk.

#In an alternative arrangement of the invention, the features and functions of video storage and delay device 150 may be directly incorporated (i.e., “built-in”) to other components of the in-car video system 100. For example, a video recorder and the video storage and delay device of the present invention may be combined into a single unit. Thus, in accordance with the invention, video storage and delay device 150 may be a discrete, self-contained device, or be integrated as a functional module at the front end (i.e., located at the input) of a video recorder. The integrated arrangement is represented by reference numeral 190 in FIG. 1 where both a video recording mechanism and a video storage and delay device of the present invention are combined within a common enclosure represented by the dashed rectangle.