Patent Publication Number: US-2020291671-A1

Title: Vehicle Parking Assistance Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Statement Regarding Federally Sponsored Research or Development 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to parking devices and more particularly pertains to a new parking device for alerting a driver when a vehicle has fully entered a garage. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pair of clamps each removably clamped to a respective one of a pair of garage door rails on either side of a garage door opening. A light emitting unit emits a beam of light across the garage door opening. A receiving unit receives the beam of light emitted by the light emitting unit. A visual unit is positioned on a back wall of a garage to be visible to a driver of a vehicle entering the garage. The visual unit emits a visual alert to stop when the visual unit receives a clear signal from the receiving unit for alerting the driver that the vehicle has fully entered the garage. The visual unit emits a visual alert to go when the visual unit receives a blocked signal from the receiving unit for alerting the driver that the vehicle has not fully entered the garage. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle parking assistance assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a vehicle entering a garage. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a vehicle having fully entered a garage. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of visual unit of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 8  thereof, a new parking device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 8 , the vehicle parking assistance assembly  10  generally comprises a pair of clamps  12  that is each removably clamped to a respective one of a pair of garage door rails  14  on either side of a garage door opening  16 . Each of the clamps  12  is positionable at a selected height on the respective garage door rail  14 . Each of the clamps  12  comprises a central section  18  extending between a pair of end sections  20  such that each of the clamps  12  forms a C shape. Moreover, the respective garage door rail  14  is positioned between the end sections  20  of each of the clamps  12 . Each of the clamps  12  includes a screw  22  for tightening against the respective garage door rail  14  for retaining the clamps  12  on the respective garage door rail  14  and each of the clamps  12  is horizontally aligned with each other on the garage door rails  14 . 
     A light emitting unit  24  is provided and the light emitting unit  24  is coupled to a respective one of the garage door rails  14 . Thus, the light emitting unit  24  emits a beam of light across the garage door opening  16 . It should be noted that the light emitting unit  24  is separate from a garage door opener sensor and is in no way associated with opening and closing a garage door. The light emitting unit  24  comprises a light housing  26  that is coupled to and extends upwardly from a respective one of the end sections  20  of a respective one of the clamps  12 . 
     The light housing  26  has a first wall  28  and the first wall  28  is directed to face the opposing garage door rail  14  with respect to the clamp  12  on which the light housing  26  is attached. A light emitter  30  is coupled to the first wall  28  of the light housing  26  to emit a beam of light across the garage door opening  16 . The light emitter  30  may be a laser light emitter or the like. A light power supply  32  is positioned in the light housing  26 , the light power supply  32  is electrically coupled to the light emitter  30  and the light power supply  32  comprises at least one battery  34 . 
     A receiving unit  36  is provided and the receiving unit  36  is coupled to an opposing garage door rail  14  with respect to the light housing  26 . Moreover, the receiving unit  36  is horizontally aligned with the light housing  26  such that the receiving unit  36  receives the beam of light emitted by the light emitting unit  24 . The receiving unit  36  broadcasts a clear signal when the receiving unit  36  receives the beam of light. Additionally, the receiving unit  36  broadcasts a blocked signal when the receiving unit  36  does not receive the beam of light. 
     The receiving unit  36  comprises a receiving housing  38  that is coupled to a respective one of the end sections  20  of a respective one of the clamps  12 . The receiving housing  38  has a primary wall  40  and the primary wall  40  is directed toward the first wall  28  of the light housing  26 . A control circuit  42  is positioned within the receiving housing  38  and the control circuit  42  receives a clear input and a blocked input. A light receiver  44  is coupled to the primary wall  40  to receive the beam of light emitted by the light emitter  30 . The light receiver  44  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  42  and the control circuit  42  receives the clear input when the light receiver  44  receives the beam of light from the light emitter  30 . Additionally, the control circuit  42  receives the blocked input when the light receiver  44  does not receive the beam of light from the light emitter  30 . The light receiver  44  may be a laser light receiver or other type of electronic light sensor for sensing a high intensity beam of light. 
     A transmitter  46  is positioned within the receiving housing  38  and the transmitter  46  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  42 . The transmitter  46  transmits a clear signal when the control circuit  42  receives the clear input, and the transmitter  46  transmits a blocked signal when the control circuit  42  receives the blocked input. The transmitter  46  may be a radio frequency transmitter or the like and the transmitter  46  may employ Bluetooth communication protocols. A receiving power supply  48  is positioned within the receiving housing  38 , the receiving power supply  48  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  42  and the receiving power supply  48  comprises at least one battery  50 . 
     A visual unit  52  is positioned on a back wall  54  of a garage  56  such that the visual unit  52  is visible to a driver of a vehicle  58  entering the garage  56 . Moreover, the visual unit  52  is in electrical communication with the receiving unit  36 . The visual unit  52  emits a visual alert to stop when the visual unit  52  receives the clear signal from the receiving unit  36 . In this way the visual unit  52  alerts the driver that the vehicle  58  has fully entered the garage  56 , and that the driver can stop the vehicle  58 . The visual unit  52  emits a visual alert to go when the visual unit  52  receives the blocked signal from the receiving unit  36 . In this way the visual unit  52  alerts the driver that the vehicle  58  has not fully entered the garage  56 , and that the driver should continue driving forward. 
     The visual unit  52  comprises a visual housing  60  that has a rear wall  62  and a front wall  64 , and the rear wall  62  is attached to the back wall  54  of the garage. A visual control circuit  65  is positioned within the visual unit  52  and the visual control circuit  65  receives both a blocked input and a clear input. A blocked light emitter  66  is coupled to the front wall  64  of the visual housing  60  and the blocked light emitter  66  emits red light from the visual housing  60  when the blocked light emitter  66  is turned on. The blocked light emitter  66  is turned on when the visual control circuit  65  receives the blocked input. In this way the blocked light emitter  66  visually communicates to the driver that the driver should continue to drive into the garage. The blocked light emitter  66  may be a red LED or other electronic source of red light. 
     A clear light emitter  68  is coupled to the front wall  64  of the visual housing  60  and the clear light emitter  68  emits green light from the visual housing  60  when the clear light emitter  68  is turned on. The clear light emitter  68  is turned on when the visual control circuit  65  receives the clear input. In this way the clear light emitter  68  visually communicates to the driver that the driver should clear the vehicle  58 . The clear light emitter  68  may be a green LED or other electronic source of green light. 
     A receiver  70  is positioned in the visual housing  60  and the receiver  70  is electrically coupled to the visual control circuit  65 . Additionally, the receiver  70  is in wireless electrical communication with the transmitter  46  in the receiving housing  38 . The receiver  70  receives the clear signal and the blocked signal from the transmitter  46 . Moreover, the visual control circuit  65  receiving the blocked input when the receiver  70  receives the blocked signal, and the visual control circuit  65  receiving the clear input when the receiver  70  receives the clear input. The receiver  70  may be a radio frequency receiver or the like and the receiver  70  may employ Bluetooth communication protocols. A visual power supply  72  is positioned in the visual housing  60 , the visual power supply  72  is electrically coupled to the visual control circuit  65  and the visual power supply  72  comprises at least one battery  74 . 
     In use, each of the clamps  12  is clamped onto the respective garage door rail  14  and the clamps  12  are horizontally aligned with each other. Thus, the light receiver  44  is positioned to receive the beam of light emitted by the light emitter  30 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the vehicle  58  interrupts the beam of light when the vehicle  58  begins to enter the garage  56 . Thus, the blocked light emitter  66  on the visual unit  52  is illuminated to communicate to the driver that the driver needs to continue driving into the garage  56 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the light receiver  44  receives the beam of light once the vehicle  58  has driven fully beyond the garage door rails  14 . Thus, the blocked light emitter  66  is turned off and the clear light emitter  68  is turned on. In this way the driver is notified that the vehicle  58  has fully entered the garage  56  and that the driver should stop driving forward. Thus, the driver can ensure that the vehicle  58  will not be struck by the garage door when the garage door is closed, and the driver can avoid striking the back wall  54  of the garage  56 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.