Vehicle compartment monitor

Abstract

The present invention includes devices, systems, and methods for providing a vehicle compartment monitoring system. The embodiments of the invention generally include a display, a camera, and a mechanism for relaying data signals from the camera to the display.

1 - 30 . (canceled)  
   
   
       31 . A vehicle compartment monitoring system, comprising: 
 a display which can be removably positioned within a compartment of a vehicle, where the display can be attached to and removed from a surface of the compartment without altering the surface;    a camera which can be removably positioned within the compartment of the vehicle and operable to transmit images, where the camera can be attached to and removed from a surface of the compartment without altering the surface; and    a transceiver connected to the camera operable to transmit the images to the display.    
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the transceiver is operable to transmit images to the display using Bluetooth wireless technology.  
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the display is a personal digital assistant (PDA).  
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the display can be removably positioned on a dashboard.  
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the camera is controllable from the display and operable to zoom in and out and pan horizontally, diagonally, and vertically in order to enlarge and reduce an image on the display and to adjust viewing.  
   
   
       36 . A vehicle compartment monitoring system, comprising: 
 a display releasably positionable on a number of different surfaces within a compartment of a vehicle, wherein the display can be interchanged between different vehicles without altering an original configuration of a given vehicle;    a camera releasably positionable on a number of different surfaces within the compartment of a vehicle and provided to transmit images using a carrier wave, where the camera can be interchanged between different vehicles without altering the original configuration of the given vehicle;    a transceiver connected to the camera operable to transmit and receive signals with the display;    
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the camera is releasably positionable on a rear passenger cabin backseat.  
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the display can provide a split screen and picture-in-picture to show an image received from more than one camera.  
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein the display can automatically cycle between images from more than one camera.  
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein a user can manually actuate the display to select between images from more than one camera.  
   
   
       41 . A vehicle compartment monitoring system, comprising: 
 a camera which can be positioned within a compartment of a vehicle, wherein the camera can be attached to and removed from a surface of the compartment without altering the surface;    a display, wherein the display can provide a split screen to show an image received by from one or more cameras in the compartment; and    wherein the camera includes a transceiver to communicate images to the display using radio frequency signals.    
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 41 , wherein the display includes one or more controls to select between a display of images from one or more cameras.  
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the one or more controls of the display provides for selection between a split screen, picture in picture, full screen, and cycling display of a first video image from a first camera and a second video image from a second camera.  
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the display is operable to switch from displaying the first video image to displaying the second video image based on a timer.  
   
   
       45 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the display is operable to display the first and second video images simultaneously.  
   
   
       46 . A vehicle compartment monitoring system, comprising: 
 a first unit having a camera and a display, wherein the first unit can be removably positioned, including attached to and removed from, relative to a first surface within a compartment of a vehicle without altering the first surface;    a second unit having a camera and a display, wherein the second unit can be removably positioned, including attached to and removed from, relative to a second surface within the compartment of the vehicle without altering the second surface;    wherein the camera of the first unit can transmit images to the display of the second unit; and    wherein the camera of the second unit can transmit images to the display of the first unit.    
   
   
       47 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the camera of the second unit is controllable from the first unit and the camera of the first unit is controllable from the second unit.  
   
   
       48 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the first and the second unit communicate using radio frequency signals.  
   
   
       49 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the camera of the first unit can transmit images to the display of the first unit and the camera of the second unit can transmit images to the display of the second unit.  
   
   
       50 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the first and the second unit can be interchanged between different vehicles without altering the original configuration of a given vehicle.