KEY RING LOCATOR
One of the most irritating problems in today's society is the misplacement of keys (around your house, in your garden or in the office or any other surrounding). Different people at some point in their life have experienced this kind of problem. it is known that you are more likely to misplace your keys when you are most stressed (i.e. when you have got an important meeting or a job interview to attend and you are running late). This type of situation always creates more stress. The main objective of this invention is to provide an easier approach to finding your misplaced set of keys, handbag, briefcase, purse, glasses, remote control walkmans or the like comprising in combination. According to the present invention there is provided in (1) [claim], the solution to overcome these kinds of problems is to have a key ring module that will be able to pick up a radio frequency (RF) signal from a external device (a mobile phone for example) and emit an alarm; this will make it easier to locate your keys or misplace item.
The invention will be in the form of a small key ring that could be attached to a set of keys for example. In an event that a person's keys are lost or misplaced the invention will then be able to receive a modulated radio frequency (RF) signal from a mobile (cell) phone and then emit an alarm and will not stop emitting the alarm until the misplaced keys are located. The communication between the mobile phone for example and the invention will be that the user will activate the invention by dialling a code from a mobile phone handset.
A key ring in accordance with the invention will now be described by means of example only with reference: Figure 1 shows the key ring module, protective casing (housing)
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the key ring module showing the protective casing and the circuit board.
Figure 3 illustrate different views of the key ring module (i.e. side view, top view, etc) Figure 4 (4) block diagram of the key ring module Figure 5 demonstrating a person locating lost item in house.
Figure 6 block diagram illustrating the essential components of the key ring module Referring first to figure 1, fully assembled key ring module has a protective casing 1 made using plastic materials for example.
Referring also figure 2 the casing comprises a top part 2 and a lower part 3 which may be clipped or glued together to protect the electronic circuits 4, the electronic circuit 4 may comprise a printed circuit board (PCB) containing all the necessary components.
Referring to figure 3 shows a back view of the key ring module when assembled fig 3a shows the underside of the key ring module in particular to show apparatus 5 and 6 key hock 6 on side.
Fig 3c shows the side view of the key ring module with the key hock on side 6, fig 3d shows the front view of the key ring module l and key hock 6 in the centre of the key ring module, fig 3e shows the top view of the key ring module 1 with key hock 6 on side and reset button 11.
Referring to 4 block diagram of the essential components of the key ring module electric circuit mounted on the PCB 4 include a radio receiver 7 having an antenna 8 this receiver, which is used to pick up transmitted radio frequency signals from a mobile phone for example, the major link between the mobile phone and the key ring module. The PCB 4 a decoder, comprising for example a microprocessor programmed to decode identity information which associates the mobile phone and the key ring. The decoder is required to unlock the incoming coded signal
- 3 from the mobile phone the microprocessor handling all the necessary digital calculation for the key ring module and coordinate the rest of the functions on the circuit board.
Referring to figure 5, user 12 standing in an upper room in the house 15, with a hand held device 17 illustrating how a person can locate a lost item from any where in a house once the key ring module is attached to it. 14, represents the radio frequency (RF) signal sent from a hand held device to locate the lost key ring module 13. 16 illustrates transmitted radio frequency (RF) signal from the key ring module.
Referring to figure 6 Antenna 8, this is used to pick up transmitted signals from the mobile phone for example. Transceiverl8 combined radio transmitter and receiver. The Decoder 19 is needed to unlock the incoming coded signal from the mobile phone for example. Each key ring module that is produced will have its own unique code (i.e. each device will have a different code from another key ring module) which will be stored in a memory device, when the key ring module communicates back to the mobile phone then before the signal is sent out from the microprocessor 20 it would need to be encoded l 9 first. The microprocessor 20, on detecting an apparent signal causes an alarm to be activated such that the PCB 4 also carries an alarm circuit lO, which will be responsible for the control of the audible 22, Visual 23 and vibration 24 responses. The microprocessor will also coordinate the rest of the functions on the electric circuit board 4 such as the memory device and the reset system 21. The reset system 21 will comprise of having an automatic deactivation of the said alarm unit if said key ring module device is not determined by the user. If the key ring module is located before the automatic deactivation is in operation then there is a reset but used to reset the alarm unit 10.