911 assist by wireless charger with NFC in the vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9277385-B2
Application number	US-201414208937-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2014
Priority date	Mar 13, 2014
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A method for requesting emergency assistance for a vehicle involved in an accident. The method includes the following: storing vehicle operating conditions prior to the accident in a storage device; detecting the accident; after the accident, deactivating charging of a smartphone being charged on a wireless charging pad; transmitting to the smartphone the vehicle operating conditions stored prior to the accident; transmitting the vehicle operating conditions from the smartphone to emergency authorities; and calling the emergency authorities using the smartphone and initiating handsfree communication with the emergency authorities.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for requesting emergency assistance for a vehicle involved in an accident, the method comprising:
storing vehicle operating conditions in a plurality of data packets prior to the accident in a storage device;
detecting the accident;
after the accident, deactivating charging of a smartphone being charged on a wireless charging pad;
transmitting to the smartphone the vehicle operating conditions stored prior to the accident;
transmitting the vehicle operating conditions from the smartphone to emergency authorities;
calling the emergency authorities using the smartphone and initiating hands free communication with the emergency authorities;
transmitting to the emergency authorities a most recently stored data packet; and
transmitting to the emergency authorities a next most recently stored data packet with complete vehicle operating conditions if the most recently stored data packet is incomplete.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing one or more of the following as the vehicle operating conditions: vehicle position, airbag status, roll-over status, and time.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each one of the plurality of data packets include the following: vehicle position, airbag status, roll over status, and time.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising storing the vehicle operating conditions of each one of the plurality of data packets at different times based on a predetermined time interval.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising storing the data packets of most recent time intervals.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising storing the data packets of five most recent time intervals.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the smart phone the vehicle operating conditions using near field communication (NFC).

8. A system for requesting emergency assistance for a vehicle involved in an accident, the system comprising:
a controller configured to control at least a portion of the system;
a storage device configured to store vehicle operating conditions in a plurality of data packets present prior to the accident;
a wireless charging pad configured to wirelessly charge a smartphone placed thereon, the controller configured to cease charging by the charging pad after detection of the accident; and
a transmitter configured to transmit to the smartphone the vehicle operating conditions stored prior to the accident; wherein
the controller is configured to:
command the smartphone to transmit the vehicle operating conditions to emergency authorities after the accident;
command the smartphone to call the emergency authorities;
initiate hands free communication with the emergency authorities;
command the smartphone to transmit to emergency authorities a most recently stored data packet; and
command the smartphone to transmit to emergency authorities a next most recently stored data packet with complete data when the most recently stored data packet is incomplete.

9. The system of claim 8 , each one of the plurality of data packets include the following: vehicle position, airbag status, roll over status, and time.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle operating conditions of each one of the plurality of data packets are stored at different times based on a predetermined time interval, and only data packets of most recent time intervals are stored.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the wireless charging pad includes a wireless charging coil and a near field communication (NFC) coil of the transmitter.

12. A device for requesting emergency assistance for a vehicle involved in an accident, the device comprising:
a controller;
a storage device configured to store vehicle operating conditions in a plurality of data packets present prior to the accident;
a wireless charging pad configured to wirelessly charge a smartphone placed thereon, the controller configured to cease charging by the wireless charging pad after detection of the accident;
a transmitter configured to transmit to the smartphone vehicle operating conditions stored prior to the accident; and
a housing including the controller, the storage device, the wireless charging pad, and the transmitter; wherein
the controller is configured to command the smartphone to transmit to emergency authorities a most recently stored data packet; and
the controller is configured to command the smartphone to transmit to the emergency authorities a next most recently stored data packet with complete data when the most recently stored data packet is incomplete.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the device is configured to be installed in the vehicle to retrofit the vehicle.

14. The device of claim 12 , wherein the transmitter is a near field communication (NFC) transmitter.

15. The device of claim 12 , wherein:
each one of the data packets including the following: vehicle position, airbag status, roll over status, and time; and
the controller is configured to store the vehicle operating conditions of each one of the plurality of data packets at different times based on a predetermined time interval.

Assignees

• Denso Int America Inc
• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Iwamoto Reiji

Classifications

• H04W4/22 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04W4/90 Primary

  Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] · CPC title