GB2428539A

GB2428539A - Detecting missing or lost items

Info

Publication number: GB2428539A
Application number: GB0514534A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Gray; Alan John O'callaghan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-07-15
Filing date: 2005-07-15
Publication date: 2007-01-31
Also published as: GB0514534D0

Abstract

A system for detecting missing or lost items, comprises a transmitter such as a mobile telephone capable of transmitting wireless signals and a receiver capable of receiving wireless signals from the transmitter. The receiver is capable of producing an audio and /or visual signal on receipt of a wireless signal from the transmitter, thereby enabling the user of the transmitter to find the said item when the receiver is located on, in or near the item.

Description

1 2428539

A SYSTEM FOR DETECTING MISSING OR LOST ITEMS

AND A DEVICE FOR USE IN SUCH A SYSTEM

The present invention relates to system for detecting missing or lost items and to a device for use in such a system.

People often mislay personal belongings they need for everyday use, e.g car or door keys. The person who mislays these items often spends a great deal of time hunting for them as keys are commonly not where it was thought they were left. The inability to locate these items quickly often leads to frustration and the loss of valuable time. The mislaying of items such as house keys can often be very costly as this may require new locks to be fitted. Also keys for modem cars contain microchips and their replacement can be costly.

To overcome these problems there is provided according to the present invention a system for detecting missing or lost items, comprising a transmitter capable of transmitting wireless signals and a receiver capable of receiving wireless signals from the transmitter, the receiver being capable of producing an audio and br visual signal on receipt of a wireless signal from the transmitter, thereby enabling the user of the transmitter to find the said item when the receiver is located on, in or near the item.

The transmitter may be capable of sending wireless signals to produce the audio and/or visual signal from the receiver when a particular code is entered in the transmitter.

The system may comprise a mobile telephone which contains the transmitter and the code is a number or numbers which can be entered in the mobile telephone.

The mobile telephone may comprise the transmitter and the code may be text which can be entered in the mobile telephone.

The audio andlor visual signal may comprise a particular tone and means may be provided to enable the tone to be downloaded from the internet to the system.

The receiver may comprise a battery, such as a button battery.

The system may comprise means to enable the receiver to be recharged.

The transmitter may comprise a subscriber identity module having a unique telephone number.

The present invention also extends to a device for use in the system as described above, comprising a receiver capable of receiving wireless signals from a transmitter, the receiver being capable of producing an audio and/or visual signal on receipt of a wireless signal from the transmitter thereby, in use, enabling the user of the transmitter to find a missing or lost item when the receiver is located, on, in or near the item.

Wireless technology enables the transmission and receipt of signals over the unlicensed bandwidth of between 900 MHz and 2.4 Gl-z with a range of up to approximately 1 00 metres and the present invention is particularly useful within those ranges.

The present invention can be realised in numerous embodiments. For example in the case of a set of keys, the receiver could be in the form of a key fob. When the keys are mislaid the user can search for the keys using a transceiver on his or her mobile telephone. The receiver, which is attached to the mislaid item, can respond with a tone or light signal from a monophonic, polyphonic or real tone transducer thus indicating its location within the range of the system.

In a specific embodiment the receiver may have a subscriber identity module (SIM) card and, therefore, will have its own unique mobile phone number.

When the item to which the receiver is attached is mislaid the user can locate the item by calling from a mobile or land line telephone or even texting from a mobile phone or a personal computer. This unique telephone number enables the receiver to respond with a particular tone with which it has been programmed. The tone may typically sound for ten seconds allowing time for the user to locate the item.

The receiver may either have a disposal button cell battery or may be rechargeable via the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of a personal computer and may include the added facility of flash memory.

In this specification, the term item includes both small articles such as keys and larger objects such as machinery and vehicles. In the case of vehicles, it is possible to detect the location of a vehicle in, for example, a multi-storey car park if a receiver is fitted to the vehicle and is programmed to set off the horn when the receiver is activated from the transmitter by the unique number or text mentioned above. The horn of the vehicle could be made to sound in, for example, 2 second blasts every 4 seconds for a minute. Such an embodiment of the present invention could be used to quickly locate the vehicle or as an anti theft device since the sound of the horn would be a deterrent to any thief.

In the case of valuable machinery, an embodiment of the present invention could be fitted to the machinery, thereby obviating the need for complex and expensive tracking equipment. Additionally the present invention may be fitted to supermarket shopping trolleys to enable the store to locate the trolle when they are removed from the store's site via triangulation on the mobile phone network.

Furthermore, in the case of personal items, such as bicycles, it is advantageous to fit a device according to the present invention instead of stamping a code on it as there is a greater likelihood of the item being recovered.

Claims

Claims 1. A system for detecting missing or lost items, comprising a

transmitter capable of transmitting wireless signals and a receiver capable of receiving wireless signals from the transmitter, the receiver being capable of producing an audio and br visual signal on receipt of a wireless signal from the transmitter, thereby enabling the user of the transmitter to find the said item when the receiver is located on, in or near the item.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmitter is capable of sending wireless signals to produce the audio and/or visual signal from the receiver when a particular code is entered in the transmitter.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein a mobile telephone contains the transmitter and the code is a number or numbers which can be entered in the mobile telephone.
4. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein a mobile telephone comprises the transmitter and the code is text which can be entered in the mobile telephone.
5. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the audio and/or visual signal comprises a particular tone and means are provided to enable the tone to be downloaded from the internet to the system.
6. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the receiver comprises a battery, such as a button battery.
7. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising means to enable the receiver to be recharged.
8. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transmitter comprises a subscriber identity module having a unique telephone number.
9. A device for use in the system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a receiver capable of receiving wireless signals from a transmitter, the receiver being capable of producing an audio and/or visual signal on receipt of a wireless signal from the transmitter thereby, in use, enabling the user of the transmitter to find a missing or lost item when the receiver is located, on, in or near the item.