MULTI-FUNCTION, MULTI-TOOL, ELECTRONIC PROTECTIVE KEY FOB
20220198858 · 2022-06-23
Inventors
Cpc classification
B26B11/008
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
An electronic key fob includes a housing defining a recess, a communication system disposed in the housing and having a transceiver and power source that provides power to the transceiver, at least one button disposed in the housing, a tool disposed in the recess of the housing and moveable between a retracted position and an extended position, and a tool lock mechanism. The button is electrically connected to the transceiver. The tool lock mechanism is configured to move between a lock position in which the tool is locked in the retracted position and an unlock position in which the tool can move between the retracted extended position.
Claims
1. An electronic key fob, comprising: a housing defining a recess; a communication system disposed in the housing, the communication system including a transceiver configured to transmit and receive electric signals and a power source configured to provide power to the transceiver; a tool configured to be disposed in the recess of the housing and move between a retracted position and an extended position; and a tool lock mechanism configured to move between a lock position such that the tool is locked in the retracted position and an unlock position such that the tool is operable to move between the retracted position and the extended position.
2. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising a thumb screw including a pivot rod extending into the housing and engaging the tool, wherein the tool is operable to move between the retracted position and the extended position via the pivot rod.
3. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising a thumb screw including a pivot rod extending into the housing and engaging the tool, wherein the thumb screw is configured to be rotated out of the housing permitting removal of the tool from the housing.
4. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising at least one button disposed in the housing and electrically connected to the transceiver, the at least one button configured to transmit a command via the transceiver, wherein: when the tool lock mechanism is in the lock position, the power source is electrically connected to the transceiver such that the at least one button is operational; and when the tool lock mechanism is in the unlock position, the power source is not electrically connected to the transceiver such that the at least one button is non-operational.
5. The electronic key fob of claim 1, wherein the tool is selected from the group consisting of a knife, a bottle opener, and a screwdriver.
6. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising an auxiliary protection device disposed in the housing, wherein the auxiliary protection device includes a member selected from a group consisting of a flashlight, a siren, a pepper spray device, a radio frequency identification protection device, and combinations thereof.
7. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising a compass disposed in the housing.
8. The electronic key fob of claim 1, wherein the tool moves between the retracted position and the extended position manually.
9. The electronic key fob of claim 1 further comprising at least one button disposed in the housing and electrically connected to the transceiver, the at least one button configured to transmit a command via the transceiver, wherein the at least one button includes a tool release button configured to automatically deploy the tool from the retracted position to the extended position when the button is pressed.
10. An electronic key fob, comprising: a housing defining a recess; a communication system disposed in the housing, the communication system including a transceiver and a power source configured to provide power to the transceiver; a plurality of buttons disposed in the housing and electrically connected to the transceiver, each button configured to transmit a command via the transceiver; at least two tools disposed in the recess of the housing, each tool configured to move between a retracted position and an extended position; and a tool lock mechanism configured to move between a lock position to lock the at least two tools in the retracted position and an unlock position to selectively permit the at least two tools to move between the retracted position to the extended position.
11. The electronic key fob of claim 10 further comprising a thumb screw including a pivot rod extending into the housing and engaging the at least two tools, wherein each tool is operable to move between the retracted position and the extended position via the pivot rod.
12. The electronic key fob of claim 10 further comprising a thumb screw including a pivot rod extending into the housing and engaging the at least two tools, wherein the thumb screw is configured to be rotated out of the housing permitting removal of the at least two tools from the housing.
13. The electronic key fob of claim 10, wherein: when the tool lock mechanism is in the lock position, the power source is electrically connected to the transceiver such that the plurality of buttons is operational; and when the tool lock mechanism is in the unlock position, the power source is not electrically connected to the transceiver such that the plurality of buttons is non-operational.
14. The electronic key fob of claim 10, wherein the at least two tools include members selected from a group consisting of a knife, a bottle opener, and a screwdriver.
15. The electronic key fob of claim 10 further comprising an auxiliary protection device disposed in the housing, wherein the auxiliary protection device includes a member selected from a group consisting of a flashlight, a siren, a pepper spray device, a radio frequency identification protection device, and combinations thereof.
16. The electronic key fob of claim 10 further comprising a compass disposed in the housing.
17. The electronic key fob of claim 10, wherein each of the at least two tools is configured to move between the retracted position and the extended position manually.
18. The electronic key fob of claim 10, wherein the plurality of buttons include a tool release button configured to automatically deploy the at least two tools from the retracted position to the extended position when the tool release button is pressed.
19. An electronic key fob, comprising: a housing defining a knife recess and a bottle opener recess; a compass disposed on a front side of the housing; a communication system disposed in the housing, the communication system including a transceiver and a power source configured to provide power to the transceiver; a plurality of buttons disposed in the housing and electrically connected to the transceiver, each button configured to transmit a command via the transceiver; plurality of tools including a knife disposed in the knife recess, a bottle opener disposed in the bottle opener recess, wherein the knife and the bottle opener are configured to move between a retracted position and an extended position; and a tool lock mechanism configured to slide between a lock position and a unlock position; wherein: when the tool lock mechanism is in the lock position, the knife and the bottle opener are configured to be locked in the retracted position, and the power source and transceiver are electrically connected such that the plurality of buttons are operational, and when the tool lock mechanism is in the unlock position, the knife and the bottle opener are configured to be selectively moved between the retracted position and extended position, and the power source and transceiver are electrically disconnected such that the plurality of buttons are non-operational.
20. The electronic key fob of claim 19 further comprising a thumb screw including a pivot rod extending into the housing and engaging the knife and the bottle opener, wherein the thumb screw is configured to be rotated out of the housing permitting removal of the knife and the bottle opener from the housing.
Description
DRAWINGS
[0017] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022]
[0023] knife locked in an open position;
[0024]
[0025]
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029]
[0030]
[0031]
[0032]
[0033]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] The following description of technology is merely exemplary in nature of the subject matter, manufacture, and use of one or more inventions, and is not intended to limit the scope, application, or uses of any specific invention claimed in this application or in such other applications as can be filed claiming priority to this application, or patents issuing therefrom. Regarding methods disclosed, the order of the steps presented is exemplary in nature, and thus, the order of the steps can be different in various embodiments, including where certain steps can be simultaneously performed.
[0035] The terms “a” and “an” as used herein indicate “at least one” of the item is present; a plurality of such items can be present, when possible. Except where otherwise expressly indicated, all numerical quantities in this description are to be understood as modified by the word “about” and all geometric and spatial descriptors are to be understood as modified by the word “substantially” in describing the broadest scope of the technology. The term “about” when applied to numerical values indicates that the calculation or the measurement allows some slight imprecision in the value (with some approach to exactness in the value; approximately or reasonably close to the value; nearly). If, for some reason, the imprecision provided by “about” and/or “substantially” is not otherwise understood in the art with this ordinary meaning, then “about” and/or “substantially” as used herein indicates at least variations that can arise from ordinary methods of measuring or using such parameters.
[0036] Although the open-ended term “comprising,” as a synonym of non-restrictive terms such as including, containing, or having, is used herein to describe and claim embodiments of the present technology, embodiments can alternatively be described using more limiting terms such as “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of.” Thus, for any given embodiment reciting materials, components, or process steps, the present technology also specifically includes embodiments consisting of, or consisting essentially of, such materials, components, or process steps excluding additional materials, components or processes (for consisting of) and excluding additional materials, components or processes affecting the significant properties of the embodiment (for consisting essentially of) even though such additional materials, components or processes are not explicitly recited in this application.
[0037] Disclosures of ranges are, unless specified otherwise, inclusive of endpoints and include all distinct values and further divided ranges within the entire range. Thus, for example, a range of “from A to B” or “from about A to about B” is inclusive of A and of B. Disclosure of values and ranges of values for specific parameters (such as amounts, weight percentages, etc.) are not exclusive of other values and ranges of values useful herein. It is envisioned that two or more specific exemplified values for a given parameter can define endpoints for a range of values that can be claimed for the parameter. For example, if Parameter X is exemplified herein to have value A and also exemplified to have value Z, it is envisioned that Parameter X can have a range of values from about A to about Z. Similarly, it is envisioned that disclosure of two or more ranges of values for a parameter (whether such ranges are nested, overlapping, or distinct) subsume all possible combination of ranges for the value that might be claimed using endpoints of the disclosed ranges. For example, if Parameter X is exemplified herein to have values in the range of 1-10, or 2-9, or 3-8, it is also envisioned that Parameter X can have other ranges of values including 1-9, 1-8, 1-3, 1-2, 2-10, 2-8, 2-3, 3-10, 3-9, and so on.
[0038] When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, engaged, connected, or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers can be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there can be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0039] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms can be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer, or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
[0040] Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, can be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms can be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below”, or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device can be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
[0041] The terms knife, knives, protective tool, and utilitarian tool as used herein can be used interchangeably. The term tool should be viewed within a broad scope as tools, therefore, the terms tool mechanism, articulation, locking and unlocking mechanism fall within the broad scope of tools. The present disclosure could use a wide variety of mechanisms for tool articulation, interchangeability, locking and unlocking, and should not be constrained or confined to one specific method. The principal being took that are housed within an electronic fob encasement that can be articulated either manually or automatically and into a locked or unlocked position that could also be paired with static, stationary tools.
[0042] In the figures, a multi-functional, multi-tool, electronic protective key fob is shown according to the present disclosure. The key fob includes utilitarian and protective secondary tools with non-vehicular functions or uses. The key fob can be equipped with tools such knives, a bottle opener, and/or screwdriver, among others. The tools may be articulated and retracted through one or more recesses within the electronic key fob encasement, either manually or automatically activated through a spring, a button, a lever or any other device or mechanism known in the art. For example, automatic articulation can include a spring or a switch blade knife and an example of manual articulation can include a pocket or swiss army knife. In another example, one of the buttons 101 can include an automatic tool release button configured to automatically deploy the tool from the retracted position to the extended position when the button is pressed.
[0043] Referring to
[0044] Referring to
[0045] Referring to
[0046] Referring to
[0047] Referring to
[0048] Referring to
[0049] Referring to
[0050] Referring to
[0051] Referring to
[0052] Referring to
[0053] In relation to the first purpose (e.g., to lock and unlock the tools), the tool lock/unlock slider 100 is configured to move between a lock position, an unlock position, and a secondary lock position. Regarding the lock position (
[0054] In relation to the second purpose,
[0055] Referring to
[0056]
[0057]
[0058]
[0059]
[0060]
[0061]
[0062]
[0063]
[0064] While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the present disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure, which is further described in the following appended claims.