US 5,917,405 · Granted 1999-06-29
The Remote Car Control Patent That Predicted Modern Keyless Systems
Imagine telling your car to start, unlock, or turn on the air conditioning from somewhere across town using a remote controller. That's what this 1999 patent describes: a system where multiple remote devices can send wireless signals to control different parts of a vehicle from a distance, laying groundwork for keyless entry and remote start technology.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a control apparatus with layered remote signaling: a device at the vehicle that receives wireless signals from remote controllers located away from the car, which themselves can receive signals from yet another remote device even further away. Specifically, it protects the method of enabling one remote controller to command vehicle components (like locks, ignition, climate systems) through a chain of wireless signal transmission between multiple remote devices operating from different locations.
Why it matters
Filed in 1996 and granted in 1999, this patent predates widespread keyless entry and remote start by several years, capturing the foundational architecture for how modern cars handle wireless commands from a distance. The patent's layered control structure—where one remote can trigger another, which then controls the vehicle—anticipated the multi-device ecosystems that automakers later deployed, from smartphone apps to fob-based starters to voice-activated systems.
Real-world use
Every time you press a button on a key fob to unlock your car from across a parking lot, or use your phone to start the engine remotely, you're using technology built on the wireless signaling architecture this patent protects.
Original USPTO abstract
A control apparatus for a vehicle, which comprises a first control device. The first control device one of generates and transmits a first signal for one of activating, deactivating, enabling, and disabling, one of a vehicle component, a vehicle device, a vehicle system, and a vehicle subsystem. The first control device is located at the vehicle. The first control device is responsive to a second signal, wherein the second signal is one of generated by and transmitted from a second control device. The second control device is located at a location which is remote from the vehicle. The second control device is responsive to a third signal, wherein the third signal is one of generated by and transmitted from a third control device. The third control device is located at a location which is remote from the vehicle and remote from the second control device.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,917,405
- Filing date
- 1996-07-18
- Grant date
- 1999-06-29
- Assignee
- Joao; Raymond Anthony
- Inventor(s)
- JOAO; RAYMOND ANTHONY
- CPC class
- B60R25/102
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