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Waterproof combined global positioning receiver and two-way radio and method of waterproof enclosure fabrication

Waterproof combined global positioning receiver and two-way radio and method of waterproof enclosure fabrication description/claims

The present application is a divisional of and claims priority benefit to copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/960,185, filed Oct. 7, 2004, titled “WATERPROOF COMBINED GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM RECEIVER AND TWO-WAY RADIO AND METHOD OF WATERPROOF ENCLOSURE FABRICATION,” which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/337,024, filed Jan. 6, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,844,845, titled “WATERPROOF COMBINED GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM RECEIVER AND TWO-WAY RADIO AND METHOD OF WATERPROOF ENCLOSURE FABRICATION.” The above-identified prior filed applications are incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to a combined global positioning system receiver and radio unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a combined global positioning system navigation unit and two-way radio communications unit that includes a substantially waterproof enclosure for protection of the electronic components contained therein, and method of fabrication of the substantially waterproof enclosure.

2. State of the Art

A global positioning system (GPS) is an electronic satellite navigation system that permits a user of the system to determine his or her position with respect to the Earth. Global positioning may be accomplished through the use of a handheld GPS receiver device that detects and decodes signals from a number of satellites orbiting the Earth. The signals from each of these satellites indicate the position of the satellite and the time at which the signal was sent. To decode the satellite signals, known as spread spectrum signals, and thereby calculate the desired navigational data, a GPS receiver must first “find” or acquire the signals emitted from a minimum number of satellites. Once the receiver is “locked on” to the spread spectrum signals, continuous real-time calculation and monitoring of the user's global position and other navigational data (e.g., velocity of movement) may be performed.

GPS receivers have clocks that are synchronized with clocks in each of the satellites to determine how long it takes the signals to travel from the satellites to the receiver. In this regard, GPS receivers require a highly accurate internal frequency reference in order to acquire the spread spectrum GPS satellite signals. Specifically, acquiring spread spectrum satellite signals from a sufficient number of satellites to perform calculations requires determining the frequency of oscillation of the crystal oscillator utilized in the GPS receiver.

Once the GPS receiver has acquired and decoded signals from a minimum of three satellites, the GPS receiver can calculate the user's position (e.g., latitude and longitude) by geometric triangulation. Upon acquiring signals from a minimum of four satellites, the GPS receiver can also calculate the user's altitude. In addition, GPS receivers are able to calculate the user's speed and direction of travel by continuously updating the user's position. Accordingly, GPS receivers are highly valuable and widely used in navigational systems because of their ability to accurately compute the user's position on or near the Earth in real-time, even as the user is moving.

In addition to the growing popularity and demand for GPS navigational devices, portable two-way radios continue to enjoy widespread popularity. In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established the Family Radio Service (FRS) so that families and other small groups could communicate with one another over very short distances (typically less than one mile) at no charge and without a FCC license. The FRS, which is one of the Citizens Band Radio Services, includes fourteen channels in the UHF 460 MHz band. There are a number of commercially available two-way radios that are designed for use with the FRS. The increasing use of both portable two-way radios and global positioning systems has led to proposals to incorporate GPS receivers into portable radio devices.

The first combined portable GPS receiver and two-way radio unit that is capable of displaying the location of at least one other such unit (as well as its own location) was recently developed by Garmin International, Inc. of Olathe, Kans. and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,430 (hereinafter “the '430 patent”). The combined global positioning system receiver and two-way radio unit of the '430 patent is capable of communicating with one or more other such units over a wireless radio network, wherein each of the units is adapted to transmit over the network radio signals indicative of that unit's location. The GPS/radio unit includes a GPS receiver for receiving satellite signals from a plurality of satellites, a processor coupled with the GPS receiver for calculating the location of the GPS/radio unit as a function of the received satellite signals, and a radio receiver coupled with the processor for receiving the radio signals transmitted by the other units. The processor is adapted to identify the location of the other units based upon the received radio signals. The GPS/radio unit also includes a display for indicating its own location as well as the location of at least one of the other units. The disclosure of the '430 patent is hereby incorporated herein by this reference as if set forth in its entirety.

The GPS/radio unit of the '430 patent includes a portable, handheld housing for housing the unit electronic components, e.g., the GPS receiver, the processor, the radio receiver and the display. However, the electronic components contained within the housing are vulnerable to potential harmful effects which may be caused by ingress of water (or other liquid) through the housing. Such ingress is of concern if the GPS/radio unit is dropped into a puddle, pond, river, stream or other body of water, if water or other liquid is splashed onto the GPS/radio unit, or if the user of the GPS/radio unit is caught in inclement weather such as rain or snow.

Thus, the inventors have recognized that it would be advantageous to provide a combined two-way radio communications unit and GPS navigation unit configured for wirelessly communicating with one or more other such units and which includes a substantially waterproof enclosure for protecting the electronic components housed therein from the potentially harmful effects of liquid ingress. It would be further advantageous to provide such substantially waterproof enclosure in a compact, robust yet relatively inexpensive form, the components of which are easy to fabricate and assemble.

The present invention includes a combined global positioning system receiver and two-way radio communications unit (GPS/radio unit) that includes a substantially waterproof enclosure for protection of the electronic components contained therein. The GPS/radio unit is configured for wirelessly communicating with at least one other such GPS/radio unit over a wireless radio network, the at least one other GPS/radio unit being configured for transmitting radio signals indicative of that unit's location. The GPS/radio unit includes a global positioning system receiver for receiving satellite signals from a plurality of satellites, a processor coupled with the global positioning system receiver for calculating the location of the GPS/radio unit as a function of the received satellite signals, and a radio transceiver coupled with the processor for receiving the radio signals transmitted by the at least one other GPS/radio unit and for transmitting a radio signal to the at least one other GPS/radio unit. The transmitted radio signal is indicative of a location of the GPS/radio unit. The processor is configured to identify the location of the at least one other GPS/radio unit based upon the received radio signals. The GPS/radio unit also includes a display for indicating the location of at least one of the other GPS/radio units and a substantially waterproof enclosure for housing the global positioning system receiver, the processor, the radio transceiver and the display.

The present invention further encompasses a substantially waterproof enclosure for a combined global positioning system receiver and two-way radio communications unit (GPS/radio unit). The substantially waterproof enclosure includes a first housing section and a second housing section configured to cooperatively mate with one another in a watertight relationship. The waterproof enclosure may further include a cover configured to be positioned over a plurality of tubular structures which protrude upwardly from a top end wall of the second housing section. The cover includes a body portion which may be received in a cavity formed upon cooperatively coupling the first and second housing sections to one another.

Still further, the present invention encompasses a method for fabricating a substantially waterproof enclosure for a combined global positioning system navigation unit and two-way radio communications unit (GPS/radio unit). The method comprises forming the first and second housing sections, preferably by molding. The first housing section is then subjected to a second molding operation wherein an elastomer may be selectively placed to provide elastomeric covers over apertures at locations of movable users input elements to be carried by the GPS/radio unit and to provide an elastomeric gasket along a peripheral edge of the first housing section to be placed and compressed against a cooperatively configured peripheral edge of the second housing section upon assembly of the two housing sections. The method further comprises disposing components of a GPS/radio unit that is configured for wirelessly communicating with at least one other such unit at least partially within an enclosure or section thereof having at least one opening through a wall thereof, and sealing the at least one opening to substantially prevent the ingress of water or other liquid through the at least one opening. The method further comprises placing an elastomeric cover over a portion of the enclosure in an interfering relationship with an outer wall thereof to form a substantially waterproof seal therewith. Additional and more specific aspects of providing waterproofing to different elements and features of the substantially waterproof enclosure, and of forming the housing sections of the waterproof enclosure, are also disclosed herein and encompassed by the present invention.

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