Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
, mhe prese-.^t invent:i.on re~ers -to a de~,7i.(,e :r'or
chec~in~r -the vel.oc1.t~ o:'~ a ~Otor vehi~;:Le~7 particul~r
in dependence on the existing si~rh., concl.itions~
I-t is ~nown that a f'requ_nt cal~"r.e oP acciden.,s r!as!
5 , its origin ln -the driver underratirlg tke velocit~ o~?
his motor vehicle or overratlnP, 'r~is, brakln~ pc~ssi'b-i.lit;.e-,.
~here ~ults a b~mping accident with an obc,tacle i.f' bhe
velocity and, re~pectively, the stoppi.nc~ dis-tance
correlated to thls velocit,y was too gre~-Lt to stop in
- 10 -ti~e before this obstacle~ In each vehicle a -Gachome-tcr;
is provided for indicating the velocitq, however such
indication alone is no-t; sufficierlt because -the knowled~e
of the ~omentary velocl-t~ does not ~;ive a d,irect infor~
~,~ mation for the leng-ch of the stoppin~ ~3.istance~ .~s a
rule., an exact de-termina-tion of the s-tOppi~1g disi;anse
of motor vehicle is not possible clurinO~ trQvell.in~., ln
view of the constant ~actors and va.ria'ble fac~tors -~o
be considered and can, above all, not be rlade by the
driver who has to ~i.ve his attention to the vehicle
20. and to the events orL the road.~ particularl~ to -the
-traffic. Most of the clrivers are not in a positio-n
; -to exactly esti~ate distances ~Jhen si.tting in a mov1.n~
vehicle~ ~his particularl,y applies with bad ~ t
conditions~ for e,xampl.e du:rin~ ni,~-~;ht~7 in :~c,~ bad
.~Jeather a~cl so on~ ,~n,y calculation.s concer~ g s-topL^~
, . .~s~
"~
- . ..
'' '~ .
.
`' rli st an ~ e s a~Q ~ ri r, ~ Te ~ r~ i ti f,-, c; a ,~ r~ e ~? ~'o ~ s rl
'. rule, ef'fected i.n a rc?-tro~pec-tive Fan~e~^ ~ftf:X' arl
accidert und fr~equentl-~y ~ive re;u~t~; surpricin~- LGI' the
- persons concern-!d~
. 5 '~ha presen-i, lnven~ion ai~C. a-t; provi~'li.n~, a de-v-ce
for cheskinc~; the velocity ol' a rno-tor vehicle~ particul.x:c`i~
in depenclence on -the existing si.ght c;oridiGions~ ~Jhi.ch
gives tha c~rlver or a compf~ nion rider -the pos~ibi~
to easily and quic~ly and relîablv check 7 WithOUt ai ~erti~,`'
his attention fro.r.~ opera-ting the mo-ro~ ve'nic,le and~
respec-tiveiy 3 frorn the road~ whether the driver can s-top
in timethe vehicle in case of an u.nexpecte~ ob~tacle i -'!
front of hi.rn~ ~ur'Gher~ the invention airns at to 17SG the
:; above rnent-loned c'neck for derivln~,r -the maxir.-lum veloci-t~
of the vehicle which can be driven considering thG e~is-ti.n~.
sight conditions,
'~he i-~vention clshieva~ -these ob3ects b~ a t:i.me
m~easuring device 7 a ~-t-lrt switch for s-tart:in,-,^ t'hi.s ~.~e~,-i.ce
and a stop switch fO7' s-toppin.~ tki 5 device~ ~he out~u.t o.~:
this device bei.n~ connec-te~.~ to the input of ~ c~:!.culato~:
or computer which c~n be 5e ~ -to the velocit,~,~ dri~ ,-n durj n~r,
the period of time rneasurement~ the output of -this c;-~'.cu:L..-vGr
or computer beinLr connected t,o an indi.catin~ device.~ so
that the computer or calculat,or can determine the tra~rel
~5 ling path passed dur.i.n~ -tke ti~e measurln.G., i.nt erva? a:~ '
d.~i~.tance
can compare thi~ value with the s-t-opp;.n,c~,/correla'v0d co t'L~3
~` *~
:
veloci~.7 ~f ~ f vehic1e o~rin~ the ti,.~e ~f~ea~u.r.~i.r-~.; i.a~;er-
val~ which sto-opi.ng d-ls~;inc:e is cll~o calcu3atc!~L ~;" ~,he
calculator or computer~ an~ whe.re ir! trh e reslll.t- oi t~!i..'
cornparison is used if d.esire~ I`or calc1la.l'in~; tlQe ~n~ ir~.
allowable velocity of -t~e vQhicle co}-relate~(~ to tk!e
existing si~rht conditiors~ and wherein the re:ult G:'' t~
comparison and/or -this rmQximum allowable veloci. t (~ i
indicated by the indicat;.n.o; d.evi~ i.-tkl SUC~ a ~e-~i.c 3 ~
the driving veloci.t~ ca.n :Ln the followinO manner eas;l~-
; be checked whether thi s veloci.ty e.:~L~.~ re,.specti-~Jel~ .he
stopping distance c3rrsi2.ted. thereto is t-oo -rreat: rrh.~
driver or an e~s~.i.stant driver at-tends to a~ljust on l~'e
device the rnO.r.1enta?.~r driv~ng velocity~ 'l'his can~ fo:r
- instance~ be rnanually effected b~J means of a co-ntrol
device~ for exarnple b~ ad.~us-ti.ng knobs~ i-t is however
more ~avourable to con~ ect~ acco:rding to thLe invention~
the input of the calculator with ~n au-tornatic veloci.ty
measurin~ davlce, for exarm.ple a tachometery for ad31l~.ti.n~
the driving velo^ltv, This 7~1ill be e~plai.nea mo?.~ d.et~
~o later on. Sub~equen-tly, the d:civ-er or the assi.-tant d.ive?
actuates the sta/~ing~ s~,litch in exac-tly that rnonent in
which a strikin~; point located on the road in front o:~
the vehicle can easily be recogni3ed. As so~n as the
vehicle moves past this pdint the stoppi-ng switch will 7~~!
actuated ~hereupon the time ~nea~uri~ca, device measures t~
time interval which was reauirel~ to -travel along the obs-
~travelling path with the provision tha~t the velo^1'(.,-~r drive-
- along this tr3.vellin.g path can b~ consi.~.e~:fld a const3.7'~'t
. _ __ . _.. __ .. _. .__ . _ . . ..., . _ . , .... _ .... _ ._ _ .
. ' ,
~' ' ,.,
` ,
:
velocit,v. The calculator c~1.n `then 31C':I.al-e -';;'he lln
ol the o~served travel1-i.nfg na.t;~i u-.:in,; the e~,st.io-.
L = t ~6 in- T~7h;ch L is thQ ler~t;h of~ -I,'he ob.serT~erl,
~ travellini~ path expresse~ in rr~ (~meter'C') S t i',. tr)e -,:;i: ',
'. 5 interval erpres,,ed. ir se~,on~s anc1 re(1-uire~i fo~ tr?~-J~
. alon~r this travel.l-Lng path und V i5 th(, veloc1t,~r es,:iLeis-~:3
in km~h driven a~o:n;r, this travell.i-rl~g ~al;'~l, If V iS :0 'C2
considered in ~niles/hour~g this e~u~t]or. reads LJ ~
It is withir -the scope 3f t-lhe present inT7en-ti3n to
provide ~he calcul~tor wi.th a circ-ui-tr~r continuoll.c;l,Y C~L~
cu1atin~ the stop~ing di.starlce S in meter correlatec' I;o
the moment~r~ veloci!G~ 7,~f1.l..C,iYIc for example -the ~nO~r~Q rul e
of thurnb S = 0~3 V ~ (C~1 V)~ V is eou!lte~ in kr~
if V is to be counte~ i.n miles/hour~ t`his rule reads
S = 0~ x 1~61 V + (001)~lJ2 x 1,612)jconparin$ this .s~oppin~
distance wi-th the a'~ove nen-tioned di.stance I.~ In case .S
assumes a greater value ~Ghan ~ -t~le rnomentar;~ velocit;y is
too high. If, on the contrar~7 -the value o, S is ~ialler
than the value of L9 the s-topping dis-tance ~.s suf'flcient'-~
short ~or the existi.ng s;.~,ht condi.tions arLd the veLoc,it,y
correla~ted to the stopping distance is not too hi~'n so
that the dri.ver ca.n stop hiia vehicl2 in -ti~e in case o
an obs-tacle in T.'ront o~ him~ '~he .result of this Coi1par-so~
can be indic~1tea by the i.ndlca~in,~ ean.s~ ~or instance
by a whistle sollnd. prod~lced whe~ ,S :is ~reate.r than ;',~
Another possi~-ility s~ou.ld be an optict.~l i.ndi.c a.tion ~ .t o.~i
example recl light f'or S ~reater t'ha~l :l; and ,~,-reen .'..i
.-
64~
`:
:~ f'or ~ ~reaver ~hin ,~,.
rrIo~Jeve~, it is rre~!ue~ des~-rc~.' -to drive as 1as-,~t
as pos'si`~le ~-ut ~on~,ideri.n,~ -the ex:i,s!,,irl,; 3ight oon!3~ ',i.c l,.~.
S is ~et eaualL,by rr,esans of the caLculaLc,-~ or eon~pu'cer
the maxir~urq allowable driv veloci.-t,y VTn?x coIre-la-l;ed -co
- -the existi.ng s;.;ht conditions can be s~alcuial,ed~ -.Jit-out
that the measurin~, -procec~s 'Qas to be repeal,ed. seversl
times in order to s~ep~risel,y reach -the max.irTIll-m vel.oci'v
Vmax men-tioned a.bove. r.~hus the calcul,J.tc~r or ~ompuvr.- ca,:
calculate Vm~x and this vel oci.-ty ca~ be inrli~a-T;e~ by -th--
indicating means~ The driver ha~ thell onl.,y to ad.jv.s'~ .i'.3
veloci.ty to this ~Jalue Y~aX i:n orde.r 1-;o clrive as l'a.C., L. ~
allowable consicl.ering the exîs cin~7; .5i.srh-t co-rditions~ r~31.i';
would3 ho~ever~ in soMe cases rac,ulre to repeatecl.ly r)~e~r:~o-~r~
the measure~ent to apprroximate as near as possible .~3~e
maximally adrQis~-Lble drivin~r, velooit~ V~ax which cor-~c-sporcis
to the existing si.gh-t conditions~ o derive an indic;S.~tion
for thi~ maxi.mall,y aamissi'L~le d,ivlng velocit,~ VTY~X~ the
calculator has 9 aCCC)rding tO a preffered em~,odimenc cl the
invention, an evaluatin~ ci.rcultrv l~rhich is c~-ilcul~s~-ing
the maæimall~ aar~.issible ~ri~ring veloci~ (in k~.Jh) accor-
ding to the equation Vma~ 196 ~ 1003t6~ _ 14~ -,trherein
t is the time i-riterval e~pressed in sec betweer actu~-~i.ng,
the starting switch and ac-tuatlng the stoppi.nO swit~-~7~ _.ro
VM is the velocity expres,ec~ in krrlJh dr;.ven durin~r sai.t~
tirr.e interval~ If Vr~a~ ha.~; to be m~asur~jtl in mile~-3/hou..
.
,~
:
,: -. ` ' :
.,' .~ ~
. ~
.
r' this equatlorL s'.~.ould r~a~ !,r~X -- lJ7- + 17 - T~
~his p~cvides all. au.to~,?.~tic i~dic~,~ CiOll f i~ r t'f~? ~ iLr ~ I.J ;,'
adroissiblf3 drivi-tl.~r velc,~c,it~ co~re',at~d t-o the e:~i,.St~
- sight corld1'tions~ so t'~)at t'ne d,river :rl~.?d orlly sel~,~t
5 a velocit~J corresponclinf~; -o tllis ma,.i.TIl~rl'Lv ~ n.iss,i'ol.
velocit,~J. In vie~J of the calcul,ati.ng ti~ e of l;'se caic~ ,.cor
being extremel~ shor-t f~-r -the ~i.r,lDle ccll.cula.-i,i-Q~; ope~ ;o~ls
to be ef,'fecved, the ac~,rr.is-sibl.e rnaxi.!nurn valoci.t~,r,, ~Ihir ,~
puts the driver lrl-to the posi,tlon t;o stop in -time 'c~:'or
an unexpectedl,y emergirg obstacle~ is ;.nclicate,d i!nmedi,-;ve?,-~J
after actuatin~J the stopping swit;ch.
As alread~ merltionea lt Wa5 U -ti.ll now ci. prere~r~ si-e
that the drivincr veloci.,~ is at least approxir.i~i,el.~ C'Of!S'~;',.',L,
' during the time measuri.ng operation~ ~o becorne i.nde-o~?ll~d~.?;t
- 15 from this pr~req,ulsite ~t es advan-tageous lf~ accordir
to the inventiGnq a circui-tr~ for cl.eterrrlini~, -the ?,~rer.,c~
velocity driven clurin~ ti~.ne measuri-ng operation is provided
within -the calculator or computer~
~ he irdication ~; the mornerl-ta.ril~ admissi.ble maxi-,n..l,n
velocity Vrr~ax is~ according to t'ne invention~ made i.n a-n
- optical mannery for exarnple in -the manneI of a tachorr.e-ter
., ~ .
or as i.t is usual in pocket calcu.lators.
In the accompan~Jing draw;.ngs e.mbodl~nen-ts of the
inventiorl are shown with reference to block d,iagrarn~,~
~ 25 ~igure 1 is a circuitry il.lus~ratin~ adâuctmen~; of`
the velocit~ dri~ren duri.n.~, the mea.--;urinLr int~rvrll ln
f'~f'~ L9
.-
a manulal m~nnerf
Fi~,ure ~ ho1~s .~1 C i ~ 3~ J U S ~, :L'a ~; i. n '~ f'`f l ' t ~f ' i ~i t . C
adjustr.~.ent of said.tfre].ocLt,~ h~J a t,~chon)eter ~,f.-d
~'igure 3 shows a ci I_'CIIitr;~T ~Or COn'j:~d.erfn.r-` t1( e eTre~f~
veloci-ty driven cffL~r7ng the meas,urirfg int;e~va1.,
Figures LL and 5 sho~ eneral view,.cs o:f de7.,i.ces z co,~
~o the presL7nt i-f~ventior and corresponainj~.-to ~7i r~0~ cl '.` q
respec-tively .
In the circuitrg sl1owrl in ~ ;ure 1 --~n e:lec!r,roni.c ',~r
measuring device 1 is prov-lded. w~.ich cfar,7c~e started '.-;,y
mfeans of a startinf,~ switcl1 2 ~.~ soon as the or~erator ^ n
dis~tinc,tl~T r--cogni~e a str k~ing point'locaGed On t1r1r~`
travelling pa~th -to be travell.ed. upon. f`.s soon as the
vehicle travels past this point~ -the operat,or ~ct~uates
a stoppingr switch 3 interruptin,-r the tlrr.e r..fea-,uJYi-L~r ~ '''OCe55
of the time measur-fng df-,f~ice 1, "fhe time irtef~val rile,as~frf,d
b~ the time measurinc~ dev.ice ~1 is ~ed to a calcu'ator ~'~ o:~`
~ electro-ric -t~pe, ?he veloci-t~ dri.ven a.uring the time
, measuring operatlon i.s adjifut~,~ted on the calculator Lf b~
20 means of an ad,jusftinf~ device 5b 'Lf'ne o~c-llculator calcu~f:!~tf~s
the travelling path betwee:n the moment of a~c~latin.g t7ne
starting s~itch 2 axld the moment of' act7J-~tirlg the sto-p7.~7,.n
switch 3 accordill~ to the eauation L - t 3V6 in w7nich ~ ..
the travelling path mentioned in n7eters.7 t is the tim.e
measured in seconds and ~ is tne drivinO velocit~J of the
' vehicle in km/h which has beer~ ad,juis~ted b,y means of -the
adjusting device 5. If V,is -to be.me~,,3urc1d'i..n rn,i..l.e~,~'}.~,ur7
_, ___ _ ... ~ .,,, ,_, . ...... ... . .
'this e~,uatlon eads I,-~ 't.~.-,'l t ,~ T e c ]~ ~.lat;or C~!.r
co~npare t'nls tl~avell1rlg -c~.th r, .,i~ the s~;op~in.
distance S e~nluated ~.ce~c,r~ling ,;o t~!e ~no~.ln :ctlle of
thumb S = 0.3 V + (0~1V)2 and '~e-n~.~; correlate~.3 -to she
mornentarily d.ive?l vel.oci-fy V a,,;d c~rl gi~re a sigrQ], via
an ind.icating device 6 f'or indif,a-ting 1.~J'hf1,her L i3 ~ -'-?a.,er~
.or smaller than ~^" It is9 ho~ever~ rnore ,avourab]e i~
calcula-tor 4 is calcu3al,,ing -the n,Rxin~.urn admissir~le c:r-ivi.r.,.-:
velocit~ VrnaX as correlc1ted. ~o the ex', !ting S`'gllt CG'.'I'l'i.'t;i.3''':S
using the ef~,uation V~ 14 i.n ~1hi,ci.
t is the time !neasured in seconds ~nd V~ is the aver..-,.re
driving velocit~ in Xm/n ~uring -the rneasu.ring ope-rcl-tlol~
(adjusted by -the adjusti.ng device 5)~ If' V.~ and V,i 3,re
to be .given in m;.les/hour~ thi..s e~ua-tion eads
, / t
Vm~ 75 + 17~3 tVM - 8~650 'l'his rna~irn1lm dr:iving
velocity Vmax i.s opticall~ ma.de visible on the ind.icat,i.~,
device 6 for example in a manner of a taChO~leter.
The devi,ce showrl i.n Figure 2 is sim~ar to -t'.lat
shown in Figure 1~ ~he onl,y differen.ce is a dif'ference
in circuitr~ insofar as tne adillstrnent device 5 for the
mornentari7~ dri.ven velocity is no-t rnanually actuated
but is coupled to the velocit~ indi.cating m.eans of -the
vehicle~ for example to tke tachorneter 7 there~suGh
that this velocit~J is automatically fad to c~lcul~tor 4
:` . 25 ~he circuitr~- shown ln Figure 3 differs from tke
circuitrv skown in ~'igures 1 and 2 onl~y in that ~or l-le
_.. _. _ .. .. . .. ..
~,
.
mentio~.~il ct:!Qc~ rr o.f k~!f-~ Yr-ll.c,~;~"v .:rld ~h.~ .";or~ ,r,
d.lstance~ respec l~ i vel.~ lO C0~. S t;Lllv ~JalU e for -t1h e
momentarily ~iven velocit,y ;s ar!.~lu5tf,~l on -the devic~f
but a circui t ;3 îs f ed v~!ith s;.sn ,.ls .- o:r:f espcjn.d.ir)~r to
the mornentar~ J drjtTerl ve].ociv,y~ This circuit ~ ~.er.~ e.-;s
~an average val U`Q 0~' the velocl-ty during, thD meas~ring
interval (as de~`ined b~ a~ctua~tirlg the s,-vartir.c, '~ /.itC':J
2 an3. vhe stopping St'~/i vCp 3, Iespe~-tivel,~,,r) and th.is
avera(re value is fed to the adjustin.~.~ 3.evlce 5. '~hi.s
circuit 8 can be part of the calculator~ 4~ '~'ne sv--!rvin6
signals a.nc~ the stoppi.ncr, si.gnals of the s-tartin~ switch
2 and of the sto~ping s Ji.tch 3,~ res,-pectively, ar~-~ fo~~
the mentioned purposa not onl~ fed to the time m.easu.ri.-,
device 1 bu-t also fed to t'Qa circuit ~. so tha~ t'~is.~
circuit is operative only during tha tiLIe measuring
.. interval. '
~ he starting switch 2 arld the stopping s-~,/itch
can be ~ormed o~ press buttons but can~ if desired~
also be acustic switches which are~ for e~ampleg
actuated by Q call. of the opera-tor~ However~ -t'ne sta 'ti n-
~switch anc3 the stopping swi.-tch may also ba co,~'~ined
j in one single actuating ~e3ns1 ~or exarrlple a de-)ressab:Le
~` ke~ which gives the start si.gnal when depressed and
gives the stop signal when released.
~'ne device can be installed in a portable equïpmen-t
or be stationarily inst3.llea in the ~o~tor vehicle itsel.~'~
:
,
,
1 rJ -
A oo~t,nble de1Ji~_r~ h~ ;rr. ~I ~ L ! ~ 0 !! ' ' .' ~ ~' ', '~ ~ :,`.... .
the Ci~ lit~ r~c~rl ir`L Fi ~ J r~l, rl r ^,, -,,~ 'rr~i r~ ',,~,~,ï~-~ ~';~,Ali '','.';'1
c~n be ~c-tu ~ c~ nI:esS .r;V~,-tGrl ~ ,?rlrl -t!~e r,t
by a press buttcn 1~'~ bo-th preC,-- ~ut-to~s pror~(3;r!~ U~f~
the casin.~ so th~.t thie~1 can easi'-~,r be ac~tll~t,l b~r ha-
~he vel.ocit;7 of the venic].e can he a~ JUS-',(?d b,~J three t)r:e S ,;
buttons 12~ each one of thern bel.nr, corre'lat,ed to o~e 2eci
value of the veloci-ty. 'rhe ,djusted value o.f the ~1~?1 cr i t~f
can be seen in a wi.n~o~ 13. '~he ca1cula-ted ~Jal,ue O.L Vrn,~
10 can be seen in a further ~indsw 14~ r~'he pol~Jer supp].;7 fcr
the device may be batteri~s which mav also be p aced wi-t~in
.~ the casin~ 9 like in a pocket calc~ulatorO
~ he device accoraing to Fig~ 5 is sui.table for a b-l OG.~
diagrarn of ~i~. 2~ The ~alue of the veloci-t,~J o' the ve1lic.~.*
during the tirne meaSurinc~ inter~Jal iS de']ivered -~i.a a c~',le
15 from the tachometer o.~ the vehicle~ Press blltton~ 1C)7 ?7
and 18 are provided. to conside.r the road condi.tionO Fvr
example~ the press button 16 ma,7 corresponrl tv dr;y road,
the press button ~7 to wet roc~ and the press but:torl 1
to snow covered .road. B~ pressi.ng one o~' -these bu~-tons
a suitable correction facto,r can be inserted in-to -the abovte
mentioned equation S = 0.3 V ~ (0.1 V)2 for the stopping
distance.
Instead of the abovta mentioned equation ~or 'Vrnç,~ an
other e~uation can be used~, particularly if one intends to
de~riate from the usual equation S = Ou~ V ~ (0~1 V)~ for
the sto-pping distan~e.
All blocks in the b'ock dia~ran],c., of Fi,g,s~ Jr~e
known per se ~nd thus ca.n be bui]-c w~ h elecl;ronic ci.-~cuit~
.
.' ,
Z6~
. ~ 1 kno~Jn f~ or~ t,~ i.rl 'Jh~ 'Ir`t~, T~!7..S i ~; ,',r-~?~ , 'r;~J
- be superflou~; to ~lec.c~il)e suoh ci.re~ it.C !r,ore irL det~-.i.~
.... . .. _ . .. . . .
~ , ,
.
