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US 2012/0067113 A1Published application
Sensing Ignition By Voltage Monitoring
AssigneeWebtech Wireless Inc.
InventorsNorman Jaffe, Jose Crisologo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of sensing vehicle engine ignition status is disclosed wherein samples of only the electrical system voltage levels are used. Sampling voltages that drop sufficiently (in magnitude and quantity over a period of time) will signify an “engine off” state.
Claims12
A method of sensing the ignition state of a vehicle engine, comprising the steps of:
- a) sampling the voltage level of the vehicle electrical system as powered by the vehicle battery without relying on other physical phenomena related to the engine, to obtain a current voltage sample;
- b) determining if said current voltage sample has a sufficient drop from the preceding voltage sample;
- c) determining if said current voltage sample is reliable;
- and
- d) determining if said current voltage sample is below a specified threshold from which an accurate inference is that the vehicle engine ignition is off.
2 more elements
A system that senses the ignition state of a vehicle engine, comprising:
- a) a sampler that samples the voltage level of the vehicle electrical system to obtain a plurality of voltage samples including a current voltage sample,
- b) a logic component that determines if said current voltage sample has a sufficient drop from the preceding voltage samples;
- c) a logic component that determines if said current voltage sample is reliable;
- and
- d) a logic component that determines if said current voltage sample is below a specified threshold from which an accurate inference is that the vehicle engine ignition is off.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.