Abstract:
A system for remote activation of multiple marine electronic appliances, whereby all the appliances within the system may be activated and deactivated at once, or whereby different appliances within the system may be remotely activated and deactivated. The system includes a receiver connected to the circuit for an appliance and a transmitter set to transmit signals, which are received by the receiver and activate or deactivate the connected appliance. The appliances include boat lights, dock lights, pier lights and the like.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/180,758, filed on Feb. 7, 2000. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to appliance activation systems and, more specifically to the activation and deactivation of appliances such as but not limited to lights on a boat or a dock by use of a remote control unit.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    After docking a boat at night, all lights are turned off and a boater must then exit the boat and walk down a pier, which often has no illumination. Also, when boarding a boat in the dark, in order for a boater to turn on the lights to the cockpit or cabin, the boater must board the boat, access the controls to the boat lights and turn the lights on. Depending on the configuration and type of the boat, it may take a considerable amount of time to access the necessary areas of the boat, and subject the boater to conditions that are unsafe because of inadequate lighting. For example, a boater may have to remove boat covers and the like, in the dark before illumination of the boat is possible. Moreover, it is currently not possible to turn on dock lights remotely, such as when approaching the dock either from land or by boat. This can make it difficult to approach and board the boat from land or to dock the boat as it approaches the dock in the water.  
           [0004]    Additionally, often dock space is rented, or multiple persons use the same dock space. It is currently not possible for multiple persons on different boats to turn on dock lights remotely.  
           [0005]    Thus, it would be useful to have a means for remotely activating and deactivating appliances such as but not limited to lights on a boat, dock or other marine location. It would also be useful to have a system for remote activation of marine appliances whereby the same appliance, for instance, lights, could be turned on by persons on different boats.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system for activating boating appliances such as boat and dock lights wherein the appliances may be activated and deactivated from remote locations.  
           [0007]    It is yet another object to provide a transmitter/receiver system whereby a single receiver may be activated by multiple transmitters.  
           [0008]    The above and additional objects are realized in the present invention that provides a means for remote activation of multiple marine electronic appliances, whereby all the appliances within the system may be activated and deactivated at once, or whereby different appliances within the system may be remotely activated and deactivated. The appliances include boat lights, dock lights, ignition switches and the like. Optionally, the invention provides a means for activation by persons on different boats of the same appliance, such as a dock light 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is an illustration of the receiver and transmitter components of the system; and  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a typical receiver/transmitter system of the invention as configured with various marine appliances. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0012]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, certain preferred embodiments are shown by way or example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms described, but to the contrary, the invention is intended to cover all modifications and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
         [0013]    The remote marine light system of the invention allows a boater to have cockpit lights after the main lights have been turned off and also lights that can be turned on and off from a distance, such as pier or dock lights, or any other lights within the distance range of the transmitter.  
         [0014]    Referring now to FIG. 1, in one preferred embodiment, the present invention uses a transmitter  10  and at least one receiver  12 . According to a preferred embodiment, the transmitter transmits radio frequencies (RF), although electronic frequencies other than radio frequency may also be transmitted. In addition, the transmitters and receiver may use light waves, such as but not limited to infrared light, or ultrasonic frequencies to perform the activation/deactivation function. There are many types of commercially available receiver/transmitter systems that are suitable for use in the invention, and these are commonly known to those skilled in the art.  
         [0015]    The preferred embodiment utilizes radio frequency transmissions, which are transmitted by the transmitter  10 . In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the transmitter is powered by a 12-volt replaceable or rechargeable battery, and comprises a timer  14 , a power switch  16  and an indicator light  18 . The electrical components of the transmitter are contained within a housing, which is preferably waterproof.  
         [0016]    Referring now to the receiver  12  of the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1, each receiver  12  comprises a housing  20 , a jumper connection  22  and a jumper cable  24 . The housing has an opening  26 , through which the jumper connection  22  is reached. The jumper cable  24  has four attached wires,  26 ,  28 ,  30  and  32 , respectively. Wires  26  and  28  are connected so as to complete a circuit for a marine appliance, such as but not limited to a light. Wire  30  is attached to a fuse mount  34 , into which a fuse  36  is replaceably inserted. In the preferred embodiment and wires  30  and  32  are connected to the positive and negative ends of a power supply respectively, with wire  30  further having a fuse  34  intermediary to the positive terminal of a power supply. The receiver  12  is powered by the power supply, which in the preferred embodiment may be any standard 12V power supply, a number of which are commercially available. Also in this preferred embodiment, the fuse  34  is a 10 amp automobile fuse, which may be readily obtained and easily replaced. In the preferred embodiment, appliances drawing 5 amps or less of current may be controlled using the remote control system of the invention, although the components may be variously configured or modified to control appliances having a greater current draw. The receiver  12  is mounted near or on the appliance, for instance, lights  38  and  40  as illustrated in FIG. 2.  
         [0017]    The transmitters  10  of the invention may preferably be carried on a floatable key chain. In the preferred embodiment illustrated herein, the transmitter of the invention will be effective in the range of about 50 feet or less; by reconfiguring the componentry in accordance with methods known in the art, such as to increase transmitter power, this distance may be increased  
         [0018]    At least one receiver  12  is installed on a boat  15 , or variously, a pier lighting system  42  or other marine appliance. Optionally, the receiver may be programmed to receive signals from multiple transmitters.  
         [0019]    The housings for the receiver and transmitter of the invention are preferably made of plastic, metal, polymers or any other suitable material which is impermeable to water and which may be molded into the shapes needed for the housings. Additionally, the transmitter may have a key chain attached.  
         [0020]    In an alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the deck lights  38  and docking lights  44  are configured to turn on when the boat electrical system is remotely activated. The deck lights  38  and docking lights  44  should provide sufficient light for a boater to board onto the boat  14  at night or under other low light conditions. In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention using the remote system to control boat lights, the lighting system on the boat  15  comprises several lights on a single series circuit, with the receiver  12  of the invention wired into the circuit. Thus, when activated, the transmitter of the invention will activate all the lights in the circuit. Optionally, a receiver may also control a cabin light  40  or a light fixture  42  on a dock  20  or other pedestrian walkway.  
         [0021]    Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, in operation, a boater carries the transmitter  10 . When the boater approaches the boat  14  or the dock  20 , the boater presses the power switch  16  on the transmitter  10 , which activates the transmitter  10  to send a signal to the corresponding receiver  12 , which is set to receive the particular frequency or the transmitter. Additionally, when the power switch  16  on the transmitter  10  is depressed, the indicator light  18  activates to tell the operator that the transmitter  10  is transmitting. When the receiver  12  receives the signal, it closes the circuit between wires  26  and  28  which turns on the appliances to which it is attached, such as deck lights  38  and docking lights  40 .  
         [0022]    Optionally, the timer  14  may be activated to program the lights to turn off the lights after a fixed amount of time, for instance in two minutes. If, after activating the timer  14  the boat operator wished to deactivate the lights of the system sooner than the programmed time, the boat operator need only depress the power switch  16 .  
         [0023]    The present invention may also be configured with a second transmitter which may be used, for example, by a different boater to activate the pier lighting system  42 , as illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus, when the transmitter  10  is activated or pier lights  42  are turned on. The boater can then activate or pier lights  42  when approaching the pier from land or water. Alternatively, the invention may be configured with a transmitter capable of transmitting at different frequencies and different receivers, adjusted to receive at different frequencies so the transmitter may be used to selectively activate and deactivate a plurality of different appliances. Various commercially available methods and components may suffice for use in the invention.  
         [0024]    Thus, what is provided is a system for remote activation of marine appliances such as boat or pier lights, wherein the system comprises at least one transmitter and at least one receiver programmed to receive signals from the transmitter, wherein the receiver is wired within the circuit of at least one marine appliance and activates the appliance when the transmitter is activated.