Patent Issued for Systems And Methods For Notification Of Exceeding Speed Limits (USPTO 10,821,893)

2020 NOV 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventor Assam, Lee (Loganville, GA), filed on August 30, 2019, was published online on November 16, 2020.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 10,821,893 is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Driver awareness is an important aspect of automobile safety. Vehicles are often equipped with various sensors and alert systems to increase the driver’s level of awareness. Such features may include lane departure sensors, for example, that detect when the vehicle may be close to or over the painted lines on the road. Once detected, the driver may be notified of the lane departure by the vehicle through an indicator on the dashboard, a heads-up display, or a vibration in the seat, for example. This level of awareness may allow the driver to correct course and minimize risk of an automobile accident.

“Automobile accidents may impact a driver’s auto insurance. A driver having been in one or more accidents may indicate the driver’s elevated risk of future automobile accidents. In the auto insurance industry, riskier drivers cost more to insure than less risky drivers. Accordingly, driver awareness and accident prevention reduce costs for the insurer as well as the insured driver by reducing the probability an accident will occur that requires payment by the insurer, and by reducing auto insurance premiums for the insured driver.

“Excessive speeds may be a factor in at least some automobile accidents. Excessive speeds may be evaluated by comparing a current speed of a vehicle to a posted speed limit for a given road or other path of travel. A driver who maintains speeds at or below the speed limit may be less likely to be involved in an automobile accident. Most modern vehicles display the current speed to the driver in one or more ways, for example, on an analog dashboard speedometer or a digital speedometer. Such feedback allows the driver to control speed according to his knowledge of the speed limit and varying road conditions. The driver’s appropriate control of speed may reduce his risk of being in an automobile accident that may ultimately increase his costs as an insured driver, as well as the insurer’s costs in insuring the driver. By controlling speed and reducing risk, the driver may be able to reduce costs of auto insurance.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may relate to systems and methods for providing feedback to a driver when speed limits are exceeded, including haptic notification of excessive speeds. Haptic notification may be provided through a transducer that translates an electrical signal into a physical response, such as, for example, a vibration or pressure. The systems and methods introduced herein provide haptic notification to a driver through a notification device, such as, for example, a wearable device such as a smart watch. Such a notification device may gain access to speed limit information, as well as current speed information, the two of which are compared to generate a control signal for the haptic notification. Further, the systems and methods introduced herein may vary the delivery and intensity of the haptic notification according to the extent the speed limit is exceeded. For example, haptic notification may first be provided once the current speed of travel exceeds the speed limit by some predetermined threshold. In certain embodiments, the intensity of the haptic notification may increase and decrease, respectively, as the speed limit is increasingly or decreasingly exceeded. For example, a more intense haptic notification may be delivered to the user when exceeding the speed limit by 30 miles per hour (MPH), as compared to exceeding the speed limit by 5 MPH.

“In one aspect, a wearable device may be provided. The wearable device may include a receiver, a processor, and a transducer. The receiver may be configured to receive speed limit data indicative of a speed limit corresponding to a path upon which the wearable device is traveling. The processor may be configured to compare the speed limit to a current speed of the wearable device. The transducer may be configured to deliver a haptic notification to a user upon which the wearable device may be worn when the current speed exceeds the speed limit. As a result, safer driving and vehicle collision avoidance may be facilitated. Safe driving auto insurance discounts may be provided to drivers that use the safe driving or speed limit warning functionality (and/or wearable devices) discussed herein.

“In another aspect, a method of providing notification of exceeding a speed limit may be provided. The speed limit corresponds to a path upon which a notification device is traveling. The method may include (1) receiving speed limit data indicative of the speed limit at a receiver, (2) receiving, at a processor, a current speed at which the notification device is traveling upon the path for comparison to the speed limit, (3) transmitting a notification signal from the processor to a transducer when the current speed exceeds the speed limit (and/or exceeds the speed limit by a pre-determined threshold, such as 5 mph), and/or (4) delivering, by the transducer according to the notification signal, a haptic notification to a user of the notification device. As a result, safer driving and vehicle collision avoidance may be facilitated.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of providing posted speed limit warnings is provided. The method includes receiving, via one or more local or remote processors (and/or transceivers), a current speed of a vehicle (such as a speed generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors, wearable-device sensors, or mobile device-mounted sensors--the sensors may be accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS receivers (using GPS speed and other information), speedometers, speed sensors, or other speed-related sensors) via wired or wireless communication either directly or indirectly from a speed-related sensor. The method further includes receiving, via the one or more local or remote processors (and/or transceivers), GPS location information of the vehicle and/or road or route information that the vehicle is currently traveling (such as from GPS unit mounted on the vehicle, in a vehicle navigation system, or on a mobile device or wearable device); determining, via the one or more local or remote processors, a posted speed limit based upon the GPS location information of the vehicle and/or the road or route information that the vehicle is currently traveling; comparing, via the one or more local or remote processors, the current speed of a vehicle with the posted speed limit determined; and/or if or when the current speed exceeds the posted speed limit by a predetermined threshold, generating, via the one or more local or remote processors, a haptic or other warning to the driver to slow down to facilitate safer driving and vehicle collision avoidance.

“In another aspect, a computer system for providing posted speed limit warnings is provided. The computer system includes one or more local or remote processors and/or transceivers configured to: receive (or otherwise determine) a current speed of a vehicle (such as a speed generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors, wearable-device sensors, or mobile device-mounted sensors--the sensors may be accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS receivers (using GPS speed and other information), speedometers, speed sensors, or other speed-related sensors) via wired or wireless communication either directly or indirectly from a speed-related sensor. The computer system further includes one or more local or remote processors and/or transceivers configured to: receive GPS location information of the vehicle and/or road or route information that the vehicle is currently traveling (such as from GPS unit mounted on the vehicle, in a vehicle navigation system, or on a mobile device or wearable device); determine a posted speed limit based upon the GPS location information of the vehicle and/or the road or route information that the vehicle is currently traveling; compare the current speed of a vehicle with the posted speed limit determined; and/or if or when the current speed exceeds the posted speed limit by a predetermined threshold, generate a haptic or other warning to the driver to slow down to facilitate safer driving and vehicle collision avoidance.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“I claim:

“1. A server computing device comprising at least one processor and a memory in communication with the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to: receive current speed data associated with a current speed of a wearable notification device from a movable device; compare the current speed data to speed limit data indicative of a speed limit corresponding to a path upon which the wearable notification device is travelling; and transmit a notification signal to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit, wherein the wearable notification device translates the notification signal into a physical action having an intensity that varies as a function of a difference between the current speed and the speed limit.

“2. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the movable device is at least one of a vehicle associated with the wearable notification device, a mobile device associated with the wearable notification device, and the wearable notification device.

“3. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to determine the speed limit data by collecting speed data associated with a plurality of vehicles travelling along the path over a period of time, wherein the speed limit data is a function of the collected speed data.

“4. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the physical action is a haptic notification including at least one of a vibration and an applied pressure delivered to a user wearing the wearable notification device.

“5. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to: detect that the path is located within a designated area; and transmit a modified notification signal including the notification signal and an additional indicator for indicating that the wearable notification device is within the designated area to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit, wherein the intensity of the physical action is modified based at least partially upon the received modified notification signal.

“6. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to cause at least one insurance-related action to be performed regarding an insurance policy associated with a user of the wearable notification device based at least partially upon determining the current speed is below the speed limit, wherein the at least one insurance-related action includes at least one of (i) applying a discount to a premium associated with the insurance policy, and (ii) transmitting an insurance offer for the insurance policy to the user.

“7. The server computing device in accordance with claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to: monitor usage data associated with the wearable notification device including at least one of a frequency of capturing speed data associated with the wearable notification device and a frequency of transmitting the notification signal; and cause the at least one insurance-related action to be performed based at least partially upon the monitored usage data.

“8. The server computing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to transmit the notification signal to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit by a predetermined threshold.

“9. A computer-implemented method for notifying a user of exceeding a speed limit corresponding to a path upon which a wearable notification device worn by the user is traveling, the method comprising: receiving, by a server computing device, current speed data associated with a current speed of a wearable notification device from a movable device; comparing the current speed data to speed limit data indicative of a speed limit corresponding to a path upon which the wearable notification device is travelling; and transmitting, by the server computing device, a notification signal to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit, wherein the wearable notification device translates the notification signal into a physical action having an intensity that varies as a function of a difference between the current speed and the speed limit.

“10. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the movable device is at least one of a vehicle associated with the wearable notification device, a mobile device associated with the wearable notification device, and the wearable notification device.

“11. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein retrieving the speed limit data further comprises determining, by the server computing device, the speed limit data by collecting speed data associated with a plurality of vehicles travelling along the path over a period of time, wherein the speed limit data is a function of the collected speed data.

“12. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the physical action is a haptic notification including at least one of a vibration and an applied pressure delivered to a user wearing the wearable notification device.

“13. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein transmitting the notification signal to the wearable notification device further comprises: detecting that the path is located within a designated area; and transmitting, by the server computing device, a modified notification signal including the notification signal and an additional indicator for indicating that the wearable notification device is within the designated area to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit, wherein the intensity of the physical action is modified based at least partially upon the received modified notification signal.

“14. The method in accordance with claim 9 further comprising causing, by the server computing device, at least one insurance-related action to be performed regarding an insurance policy associated with a user of the wearable notification device based at least partially upon determining the current speed is below the speed limit, wherein the at least one insurance-related action includes at least one of (i) applying a discount to a premium associated with the insurance policy, and (ii) transmitting an insurance offer for the insurance policy to the user.

“15. The method in accordance with claim 14 further comprising: monitoring, by the server computing device, usage data associated with the wearable notification device including at least one of a frequency of capturing speed data associated with the wearable notification device and a frequency of transmitting the notification signal; and causing the at least one insurance-related action to be performed based at least partially upon the monitored usage data.

“16. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein transmitting the notification signal further comprises transmitting the notification signal to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit by a predetermined threshold.

“17. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to: receive current speed data associated with a current speed of a wearable notification device from a movable device; compare the current speed data to speed limit data indicative of a speed limit corresponding to a path upon which the wearable notification device is travelling; and transmit a notification signal to the wearable notification device when the current speed exceeds the speed limit, wherein the wearable notification device translates the notification signal into a physical action having an intensity that varies as a function of a difference between the current speed and the speed limit.

“18. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media in accordance with claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to determine the speed limit data by collecting speed data associated with a plurality of vehicles travelling along the path over a period of time, wherein the speed limit data is a function of the collected speed data.

“19. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media in accordance with claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to cause at least one insurance-related action to be performed regarding an insurance policy associated with a user of the wearable notification device based at least partially upon determining the current speed is below the speed limit, wherein the at least one insurance-related action includes at least one of (i) applying a discount to a premium associated with the insurance policy, and (ii) transmitting an insurance offer for the insurance policy to the user.

“20. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media in accordance with claim 19, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to: monitor usage data associated with the wearable notification device including at least one of a frequency of capturing speed data associated with the wearable notification device and a frequency of transmitting the notification signal; and cause the at least one insurance-related action to be performed based at least partially upon the monitored usage data.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Assam, Lee. Systems And Methods For Notification Of Exceeding Speed Limits. U.S. Patent Number 10,821,893, filed August 30, 2019, and published online on November 16, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,821,893.PN.&OS=PN/10,821,893RS=PN/10,821,893

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