Method of and apparatus for expanding functionality of vehicle cassette tape-player decks to permit dictation or other recording and automatic remote station relaying of same

Abstract

Method of and apparatus for expanding the functionality of vehicle cassette tape player decks to permit driver dictation or other recording and automatic remote station relaying of same through integration with cellular radio telephone apparatus and the like.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . For integration with a vehicle passive audio-tape cassette deck playback system having power, play, rewind and forward controls operable, in a play mode, to reproduce signals stored on a pre-recorded tape in audio form in a vehicle loudspeaker by scanning the tape forwardly past a playback head connected to playback amplifiers driving the loudspeaker, apparatus for rendering the system capable of active dictation recording use on a tape and simultaneous transmission to a remote location, or later transmission upon rewind and playing of the recorded tape, via a cellular radio telephone transmitter system also carried by the vehicle, said apparatus having, in combination auxiliary apparatus comprising a microphone, audio amplifying means and a recording head cooperative with the tape for enabling the driver, upon actuation of a recording dictation mode, to dictate in the vehicle into the microphone and record such on the tape; programmable control means cooperative with the said auxiliary apparatus and with the modulator of said cellular radio telephone transmitter system for switching said audio amplifying means, upon said actuation of the recording dictation mode, to energize said recording head to record the dictation on said tape and, after operation of said rewind control, to playback the same as recorded on the tape through one or both of two paths: one, through said playback amplifiers for driver listening through said vehicle loudspeaker, and secondly, for directly modulating the cellular radio transmitter modulator to transmit to a remote location; said programmable control means further having means, operable upon actuation of said recording dictation mode, for connecting said audio-amplifying means to said modulator, to transmit the dictation via the cellular radio telephone transmitter in real time during said dictation, selectively with or without simultaneous energizing of said recording head to record the dictation on said tape.  
     
     
         2 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    and in which modulating of said modulator by the audio amplifying means connected with the microphone is controlled by voice on/off switching.  
     
     
         3 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 1   , and in which microprocessor means controls the said switching, being pre-programmed to enable driver pre-selected option functions.  
     
     
         4 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 3    and in which said option functions are: record locally at the vehicle; listen to the playback of the recorded tape at the vehicle; transmit to remote location in real dictation time; and transmit to remote location later after dictation.  
     
     
         5 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    and in which means is provided for controlling the time of playback of the recorded tape in response to one of a preselected time period after dictation, and a predetermined number of dictated messages.  
     
     
         6 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 1    and in which the deck is associated with a radio broadcast receiver, and means is provided for enabling the received programs selectively to be recorded on said tape and to be transmitted to a remote location via said cellular radio telephone transmitter systems in real time of recording or on playback of the recorded tape.  
     
     
         7 . Apparatus as claimed in    claim 6    and in which means is provided for switching the broadcast receiver output to the said audio amplifying means to effect recording and to the said modulator to effect the transmission to a remote location.  
     
     
         8 . A method of expanding the functionality of a vehicle player tape deck to permit dictation by the driver, that comprises, adding microphone and recording amplifying components to the player tape deck to record dictation on the tape; and automatically enabling transmission of the dictation sounds over an adjacent cellular radio telephone system selectively in each of the following option modes: in real time during dictation and simultaneous recording; in real time without recording; and at a selected time after dictation recording by playback.  
     
     
         9 . A method as claimed in    claim 8    and in which the driver on-off dictation recording is controlled in response to the presence of voice sound only.  
     
     
         10 . A method as claimed in    claim 8    and in which radio broadcast reception in the vehicle is also similarly recordable and automatically transmitted over said cellular radio telephone system with selectivity of each of said option modes.