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:
Feb. 05, 2008
Filed:
Sep. 16, 2004
Lane Thomas Holloway, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Walid M. Kobrosly, Round Rock, TX (US);
Nadeem Malik, Austin, TX (US);
Marques Benjamin Quiller, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Lane Thomas Holloway, Pflugerville, TX (US);
Walid M. Kobrosly, Round Rock, TX (US);
Nadeem Malik, Austin, TX (US);
Marques Benjamin Quiller, Pflugerville, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A system controlled by a data processor for controlling vehicle operational functions enabled for each of a plurality of vehicle drivers comprising a combination of means for assigning to each of a group of drivers a vehicle operation key with a unique identifier, means for storing these identifiers, means for assigning to each of the group of drivers a set of operational functions that each driver is enabled to perform, means for designating a vehicle operation manager and means enabling this operation manager to modify each of the set of operational functions assigned to each of the group of drivers. The vehicle has means for directly receiving one of said vehicle operation keys together with means responsive to the receiving of the key for enabling all of the operational functions assigned to the driver who is identified by the key identifier. In accordance of a further feature of this aspect of the invention, the vehicle operation manager is one of the plurality of drivers and the modification of each of the set of operational functions assigned to each of the plurality of drivers is one of the functions that the manager is enabled to perform. According to another aspect of this invention, the manager is enabled to make modifications dynamically during the operation of the automobile.