Vehicle tracker including override feature and related methods

#The present invention relates to the field of vehicle devices, and, more particularly, to a tracking and alerting system for a vehicle.

#Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, busses, fleet vehicles, etc. are widely used and knowing the locations of such vehicles is often desired. For example, should a vehicle be stolen, it would be beneficial to know the vehicle's location so that authorities could be promptly and accurately directed to retrieve the vehicle. Indeed, the tracking system could plot the getaway path of the thief.

#For a company with hired drivers, it may be desirable to know the driver's whereabouts during the course of the day. Similarly, a rental car agency or other fleet operator, for example, may wish to know the whereabouts of its fleet of vehicles.

#FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a vehicle tracking system in accordance with the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the vehicle tracking unit as shown in FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is more detailed block diagram of the monitoring station as shown in FIG. 1.

#The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

#Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the vehicle tracking system 20 in accordance with the invention is now initially described. The vehicle system 20 illustratively includes a vehicle tracking unit 25 to be mounted in the vehicle 21 and a monitoring station 30 which is remote from the vehicle and which is typically in a fixed location. In the illustrated embodiment, the vehicle tracking unit 25 interfaces with various vehicle devices, such as may include security sensors, door locks, etc. as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

#The vehicle tracking unit 25 is also illustratively connected to a separate vehicle security system 27 as may already be installed in the vehicle 21, from the factory or installed as an aftermarket product. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments of the vehicle tracking system 20 a separate vehicle security system 27 may not be needed, and/or various features thereof can be readily incorporated in the vehicle tracking unit 25.