The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 22, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 12, 2001
Ari I. Polidi, Mountain View, CA (US);
James Nolan, Boulder Creek, CA (US);
Horizon Navigation, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
According to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided to generate notification about condition changes behind a vehicle. Information about a first set of conditions behind a vehicle is gathered at a first point in time. Information can be gathered using imaging devices, infrared detectors, distance meters, light intensity sensors, and timing devices. At a later point in time, information about a second set of conditions behind the vehicle is gathered. The information gathered at a first point in time is compared to the information gathered at the later point in time to determine differences between the conditions behind the vehicle. If the differences meet a notification criterion, a notification is generated conveying information about the changed conditions behind the vehicle.