Anti-idling system for ambulances and other vehicles

Abstract

The Anti-idling System for Ambulances and Other Vehicles is a novel system for making electricity available to vehicles which idle curbside in urban and suburban environments. The invention comprises a pedestal with a specialized electricity plug, a cord and cord reel, an onboard microcontroller with GSM and RFID card reader which controls the flow of electricity and communicates with a cloud-based management system, and a cloud-based management system which controls user authentication. This enables an ambulance or other vehicle operator to approach the pedestal, access the plug and cord and turn on the flow of electricity using an RFID card or mobile phone, and use the pedestal to power their vehicle while in proximity to the pedestal. When the vehicle engine is started, the system detects the auto-ejection of the plug from the vehicle, turns off the flow of electricity, and automatically retracts the plug and cord into the pedestal.

1 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . An anti-idling system for vehicles, comprising:
 a cord having a first end comprising a specialized electrical plug and a second end configured for connection to an electric source;   a cord reel configured to receive the cord;   a pedestal configured to house the cord and the cord reel, said pedestal including a sliding door; and   a security mechanism including at least a processor having instructions operating thereon configured to cause the processor to determine whether a user is one of a plurality of authorized users;   wherein:
 the sliding door is configured to provide access to the specialized plug; and 
 the sliding door is configured to be closed until the security mechanism determines that the user is one of the plurality of authorized users. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the security mechanism is further configured to prevent the flow of electricity from the electric source to the specialized plug until the user is determined to be one of a plurality of authorized users. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said security mechanism is configured on the pedestal. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the security mechanism includes at least one of: an RFID reader and a fingerprint reader. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said security mechanism is remote to the pedestal. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein said security mechanism determines that the user is one of the plurality of authorized users using at least one of: a mobile application and a text message. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising an IR sensor configured proximate to the sliding door, said IR sensor configured to determine when there is an obstruction blocking operation of the sliding door. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , further comprising a container of compressed air, and when an obstruction is detected by the IR sensor, a burst of air is released by the container of compressed air. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the cord reel is configured to retract the cord when the specialized plug is not in use. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the sliding door automatically closes when the cord is retracted. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , further comprising a detector configured to detect when the cord has been fully retracted, said detector configured to determine when there is an obstruction blocking operation of the sliding door. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein:
 when there is an obstruction blocking the operation of the sliding door, the detector sends a signal to the security mechanism to prevent the flow of electricity from the electrical source to the specialized plug.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the sliding door is an electromechanical sliding door. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the specialized electrical plug is configured to provide electricity to a vehicle. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , further comprising a detector to determine that an engine of the vehicle has started, and wherein the specialized electrical plug is retracted when the detector determines that the engine has started. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein a list of users corresponding to the plurality of authorized users is updated via a remote server. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the sliding door slides on at least one rail. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a lead screw motor configured to open and close the sliding door. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the cord reel is configured to allow an authorized user to pull the cord to a desired length. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the cord reel is motorized. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the cord reel is a motorized, unidirectional cord reel configured to:
 allow an authorized user to pull the cord to a desired length, and   retract the cord using the motor.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the cord reel is spring loaded. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising a ratcheting gear configured to lock the cord at a desired length, and wherein when the ratcheting gear is released, the energy stored in the spring retracts the cord. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a second security mechanism including at least a processor having instructions operating thereon configured to cause the processor to determine whether a user is one of a plurality of authorized users; and wherein:
 the second security mechanism is operable when the first security mechanism has determined that the user is one of the plurality of authorized users and the sliding door has provided access to the specialized plug; and   when the second security mechanism confirms that the user is one of the plurality of authorized users, flow of electricity from the electric source to the specialized plug is activated; and   when the second security mechanism does not confirm that the user is one of the plurality of authorized users, the flow of electricity is not activated.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein when the flow of electricity is not activated, the cord reel retracts the cord. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 37 , further comprising a contactor configured to control the flow of electricity from the electric source to the specialized plug. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising at least one of: a sensor configured to determine when the sliding door is open, a sensor configured to detect when the cord is fully retracted, and a sensor configured to detect when the specialized plug is fully retracted. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising at least one kill switch configured to compress when the cord and plug are wrapped around the cord reel, wherein compression of the at least one kill switch prevents electricity from flowing to the specialized electrical plug. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a detector configured to determine when current is running through the cord. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein when the detector determines that current has stopped running through the cord, the specialized electric plug is retracted.