Abstract:
In a preferred embodiment, an apparatus for detecting the presence of, and providing for the release of, a person in a vehicle trunk compartment, including: a presence detector system to detect motion in the vehicle trunk compartment; and upon detection of motion in the vehicle trunk compartment, the presence detector system causes the activation of one or more functions selected from the group consisting of: a vehicle operator alert, vehicle headlights, a vehicle horn, a vehicle alarm, a self-contained alarm, a trunk lid release and, a trunk light.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to vehicles generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a novel vehicle trunk emergency release and warning system and method that release a trunk latch and warn the vehicle operator of the presence of a person locked in the trunk. 
     2. Background Art 
     While the present invention is described, for illustrative purposes, with reference to detecting the presence of a person in a vehicle trunk compartment, it will be understood that the present invention is applicable, as well, to any situation in which it is desirable to detect the presence of a person in any locked enclosure. 
     To avoid injury or death to a person, particularly a child, that becomes locked in the trunk compartment of a vehicle, it is important that means be provided to open the locked trunk either automatically or by the person locked in the trunk compartment. Recent media reports emphasize the need for such a provision and considerations of associated vehicle safety legislation further emphasize this need. 
     One method of providing for the release of a person locked in a vehicle trunk compartment is simply to provide an internal catch that the person in the trunk can activate to unlatch the trunk lid. A disadvantage of this method, however, is that the person must be able to locate the internal catch and be able physically to activate the catch, which a child or disabled or adult may not be able to do. For this reason, it is desirable that the presence of the person be detected and the trunk automatically unlatched. An undesirable aspect of this, on the other hand, is that the trunk lid may be unlatched when the vehicle is in motion. In any case, it is desirable that the presence of the person be made known to others, such as the operator of the vehicle, so that appropriate action can be taken if the lid fails to be unlocked or if the vehicle is in motion. 
     Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a system and method for detecting the presence of a person in the trunk compartment of a vehicle and, subject to certain limitations, automatically unlocking the lid of the trunk compartment upon such detection. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide such a system and method that alert others to the presence of the person locked in the trunk compartment of the vehicle. 
     It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a system and method that will not unlock the trunk compartment of the vehicle if the vehicle is in motion or may be put in motion. 
     It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a system and method that permit, subject to certain limitations, the person in the trunk of the vehicle to unlock the lid of the trunk compartment from the inside of the trunk compartment. 
     Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention achieves the above objects, among others, by providing, in a preferred embodiment, an apparatus for detecting the presence of, and providing for the release of, a person in a vehicle trunk compartment, comprising: a presence detector system to detect motion in the vehicle trunk compartment; and upon detection of motion in the vehicle trunk compartment, the presence detector system causes the activation of one or more functions selected from the group consisting of: a vehicle operator alert, vehicle headlights, a vehicle horn, a vehicle alarm, a self-contained alarm, a trunk lid release, a trunk light, and a trunk lid release. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     Understanding of the present invention and the various aspects thereof will be facilitated by reference to the accompanying drawing figures, provided for purposes of illustration only and not intended to define the scope of the invention, on which: 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, isometric view, partially cut-away, of a vehicle with a person locked inside the trunk compartment of the vehicle. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a logic flow diagram of the system of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference should now be made to the drawing figures on which similar or identical elements are given consistent identifying numerals throughout the various figures thereof, and on which parenthetical references to figure numbers direct the reader to the view(s) on which the element(s) being described is (are) best seen, although the element(s) may be seen on other figures also. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle  10  with a person, for example a child  12 , locked in the trunk compartment  14  of the vehicle. According to the present invention, there is provided within trunk compartment  14  a presence detector  20  to detect the presence of, for example, child  12  and to initiate action which may, subject to certain limitations which are described in detail below, lead to the unlocking of a latch  22  of trunk compartment lid  24 . 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a vehicle emergency trunk compartment release and warning system according to the present invention, generally indicated by the reference numeral  30 . System  30  includes a presence detector  40  which is supplied power from the vehicle electrical system through a key override  42 , the vehicle electrical system being assumed to be operating at 12 volts, although any other voltage may be accommodated or provided through conventional means. Presence detector  40  is also connected to the vehicle electrical ground  50 . Presence detector  40  may be, for example, a motion sensor, or a heat sensor such as an infrared sensor, or a sonic sensor such as an ultrasonic sound sensor, or a combination of one or more such sensors, all of which are available and well developed technically. Control circuitry may be included in presence detector  40  or it may be located remotely from the presence detector. As illustrated on FIG. 2, the control circuitry is assumed to be, for illustrative purposes only, contained within presence detector  40 . Infrared and ultrasonic sensors are preferred for optical and sonic detection, since those sensors can be tuned to exclude environmental interference, although other types of optical and sonic sensors may be provided instead. 
     Upon detection of the presence of person in the trunk compartment, such as person  12  (FIG.  1 ), a number of options are possible, as described below. 
     First, whenever presence detector does detect person  12  in the trunk compartment, it is desirable that a driver alert  60  be activated to warn the operator of the vehicle that a person, or in any event motion, has been detected in the trunk. Driver alert  60  may consist of visual and/or audible warning means and preferably is located on or near the dashboard of the vehicle or in some other location that will attract the attention of the operator of the vehicle. It is also desirable that trunk light  64  be illuminated whenever motion is detected by presence detector  40 . This will provide some level of comfort to a person locked in the trunk compartment and will also aid the person in locating a release catch. The means to activate trunk light  64  may include a timing function so that the trunk light will stay on for only a predetermined length of time to conserve battery power in case of a false motion detection condition. The length of time can be relatively long. 
     Upon detection, presence detector  40  may cause an internal latch release  70  to be illuminated. Latch release  70  may be illuminated, for example, with white light with a red hand  72  superimposed thereon to indicate to indicate that pressing the latch release will cause the trunk compartment lid to be unlatched. A limitation on this feature may be that the vehicle engine is turned off. Otherwise, a person might push latch release  70  when the vehicle is in motion or might push the latch release just before the vehicle is put in motion. It is also desirable for the latter reason that provision be made to lock out starting of the vehicle engine if latch release  70  is activated. Alternatively, provision may be made to unlatch the trunk compartment lid only if the vehicle is in “park” and the vehicle may not be shifted out of “park” when the trunk is open. In any case, whenever latch release  70  is pushed, whether or not the engine of the vehicle is turned on, it is desirable that driver alert  60  be activated to warn the operator of the vehicle that the presence of the person has been detected. In the case of the disabling of engine starting or shifting out of “park” is activated, additional action must be taken to remove the disable. The lighting of latch release  70  may also have be time-limited to conserve battery power. 
     Presence detector  40  may also cause the headlights  80  of the vehicle to be illuminated or to flash on and off when the presence of a person is detected. This is important when the vehicle is unattended or when the operator fails to notice driver alert  60  or the feature may provide redundancy if the driver alert fails to operate properly. In any case, headlights  80  will attract attention of others to the vehicle and the person locked in the trunk of the vehicle will have the opportunity to make his or her presence known to others. This function may also be time-limited. 
     As described above with reference to headlights  80  of the vehicle, car horn  82  and/or car alarm  84  of the vehicle may be activated to attract others to the vehicle. Again, this function may be time-limited to conserve battery to power. 
     Presence detector  40  may also automatically activate trunk compartment lid release  90  upon detection of person  12 , preferable within the limitations described above, such as not activating the trunk release when the engine of the vehicle is running or unless the vehicle is in “park”. 
     Other than manual latch release  70  and presence sensor  40 , the elements described above are commonly provided on modern vehicles and system  30  can allow for easy interfacing with existing electric trunk release systems, thereby permitting retrofitting in aftermarket applications. For those vehicles without car alarm  84 , presence sensor  40  could be provided with self-contained alarm  92  as an additional safety feature. 
     Key override  42  is preferably dashboard-mounted so that a vehicle operator can conveniently override system  30  when the vehicle operator must transport material in the trunk compartment that would activate the system, such as loose material that is likely to shift while the vehicle is in motion. Key override  42  is most practical for OEM applications and could default to “activated” status at the end of each vehicle ignition cycle. There may also be some visual indication provided to indicate to the operator of the vehicle that key override  42  has been activated. 
     Rather than reactively open the trunk compartment lid, presence detector  40  can also be used to proactively prevent the trunk compartment lid from latching when motion is present within the trunk compartment. This can be accomplished by repeated activation of the opener solenoid to unlatch the trunk compartment lid until motion is no longer detected by presence detector  40 . Also, the trunk compartment latch can be disabled if closing is attempted more than a predetermined number of times and is enables only after the ignition is cycled. This feature will prevent, for example, one child trying to lock another child in the trunk compartment. 
     A further consideration is to provide a short period of time, say, perhaps five to eight seconds, between the closing of the compartment trunk lid and the activation of the external alert features of presence system  30 . The time delay period assures the operator of the vehicle that the trunk lid is securely closed. During the time delay period, the automatic trunk lid release feature  90  would be activated and, of course, anyone shut in the trunk could operate manual latch release  70  during that period, providing any other limitations were satisfied. After the time delay period, the automatic unlock feature would be disabled. This is useful, for example, in the situation in which the vehicle operator places some packages in the trunk and then returns to a store. Having the time-out period would prevent someone from noticing the return of the person to the store and then shaking the vehicle and causing the trunk lid to open. This feature also would prevent someone from randomly shaking vehicles in hopes of finding one with an automatic trunk lid unlock feature. 
     FIG. 3 is a logic diagram of the operation of system  30  (FIG.  2 ), including the various options discussed above. It will be understood, however, that certain options may be omitted. Upon detection of motion in the trunk compartment by presence detector  40 , there is an inquiry at step  200  as to whether key override  42  has been activated. If key override  42  has been activated, no further action is taken. If key override  42  has not been activated, driver alert  60  is activated and trunk light  64  is turned on in response to the detection of motion. Then, there is an inquiry at step  210  as to whether locking of the trunk lid has been attempted a predetermined number of times. If the locking has been attempted the predetermined number of times, the trunk remains unlocked until the vehicle ignition is cycled. If locking of the trunk lid has not been attempted the predetermined number of times, there is an inquiry at  220  as to whether the engine is turned off or the vehicle is in “park”. If the engine is not turned off or the vehicle is not in “park”, the trunk lid remains locked. If the engine is turned off or the vehicle is in “park”, manual release  70  is illuminated and enabled and the starting of the engine or the shifting out of “park” is disabled. 
     Also, if the engine is turned off or the vehicle is in “park”, there is an inquiry at step  230  as to whether the time delay after closing of the trunk compartment lid has expired. As noted above, this time delay period is perhaps on the order of about five to eight seconds. If the time delay has not expired, the automatic trunk lid release feature  90  is enabled, so that the trunk lid will be unlocked if motion is detected during the time delay period. If the time delay period has expired, trunk release  90  is disabled and car headlights  80 , car horn  82 , car alarm  84  and self-contained alarm  92  are activated to alert others of the probable presence of a person locked in the trunk compartment. 
     It will be understood that the various steps described with reference to FIG. 3 do not necessarily have to be taken in the order shown. It will also be understood that the various steps described with reference to FIG. 3 are optional and that the present invention contemplates that one or more of the various steps may be omitted or altered within the spirit of the invention. 
     In the embodiments of the present invention described above, it will be recognized that individual elements and/or features thereof are not necessarily limited to a particular embodiment but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in any selected embodiment even though such may not be specifically shown. 
     Terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “inner”, “outer”, “inwardly”, “outwardly”, and the like, when used herein, refer to the positions of the respective elements shown on the accompanying drawing figures and the present invention is not necessarily limited to such positions. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those elucidated in, or made apparent from, the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown on the accompanying drawing figures shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. 
     It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.