Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1 ~r~ 8
This inven-tion relates to a safety indicator for a
vehicle, and in particular to one which is capable of indi-
cating the acutal operating status of a vehicle to the drivers
of other vehicles on the road.
The density of traffic is con-tinuously increasiny
as a result of economic development and accidents are thus
correspondingly increased. According to statistical infor-
mation, most accidents are due to the inability of drivers in
responding rapidly to sudden changes in road conditions.
Such accidents are particularily readily caused by vehicles
moving at high speed such as on the freeway resulting in
collisions.
Since the traffic density is greatly increased, it
is difficult to maintain a suitable distance between moving
vehicles and the view of the driver may thus be obstructed by
the vehicle in front. Therefore, under many circumstances,
the driver of the following vehicle can anticipate the motion
of the leading vehicle only by means of the indicator lights
provided on the tail of the leading vehicle. For example,
direction indicator lamps show that the vehicle intends to
turn or change lanes and the stop lamp shows that the driver
has applied the brake. Although this type of indicator system
has been used for many years and is effective at somewhat
lower speeds, it is not adequate and cannot provide a complete
indication of the operating status of the leading vehicle.
The conventional indicator system cannot clearly
indicate, in addition to the turning and braking motions of
the leading vehicle, whether or not the vehicle is accelerat-
ing,-or sliding, or the driver is preparing to apply a brake
or is having problems. Therefore when the driver of the
leading vehicle finds that the road conditions are bad,
.
~ 17I4~8
releases the accelerator and prepares to apply the brake, the
driver of the Eollowing vehicle will not recognize this
situation and take any evasive action until the bral~e of
the front vehicle is applied and the stop lamps light up.
This may cause a chain collision.
When the leading vehicle stops because of for
example problems, the vehicle itself has no means of indicat-
ing such a situation. Although the red lamps on the tail of
the vehicle may light up at night, they cannot indicate
whether or not the vehicle is moving. In addition, the in-
creasing intensity of the red lamps over the normal driving
lights when the brake is applied at night is also difficult
to distinguish.
The headlight of a vehicle can be selected to be a
high beam or low beam. No matter whether the headlight is
on high beam or low beam when the vehicle is temporarily
stopped e.g., at a traffic light, the headlights thereof
tends to dazzle other drivers and thus the headlight has to
be turned off. This causes certain inconvenience to the
driver.
Morever, in the conventional indicator system, the
driver cannot determine whether or not the various indicator
lamps are working properly without leaving the car. Especial-
ly in the case of the stop lamp, which will not light up
until the brake pedal is actuated, a person alone cannot
simultaneously actuate the pedal and check the stop lamp
provided at the tail of the vehicle. At least two people are
needed in such a checking procedure.
In view of the above mentioned disadvantages of the
conventional indicator systems, the present invention provides
a safety indicator which can clearly indicate the operating
-- 2 --
~ ~1488
status of a vehicle.
The present lnvention also prov~des a device fox
temporaril~ turni~n~ off t~e headli~hts when the vehicle is
stopped and turni~ng it on agai~n when the vehicle movPs.
The present invention again provides a device for
the drivers determining whether or not the various indicating
lamps are working properly without leaving the car.
According to the present invention therefore there
is provided a saEety indicator system for motor vehicles
including speed dependent switch means arranged, when a pre-
determined vehicle speed has been exceeded, to trigger switch
means to supply current to a plurality of lamps through the
intermediary of furt~er switch means, which lamps are indi-
cative of predetermined functions of the vehicle, said further
switch means beins operatable in dependence upon acceleration
or retardation of the vehicle; a first lamp circuit having an
intermittently operable device and being coupled with a current
source, when the s~itch means is not triggered and the speed
dependent switch means remains inoperative while the predeter-
mined vehicle speed ~as not been exceeded, for intermittentillumination of the lamps of the first lamp circuit; a second
lamp circuit opera~le when the speed dependent switch means
triggers the switch means and the vehicle brake is arranged to
operate the further switch means to provide constant illumin-
ation of the lamps of t~e second lamp circuit which is thus
indicatlve of the vehicle brakes being applied; a third lamp
circuit having a further intermittently operable device,
which th~rd lamp circuit is opera~le when the vehicle acceler-
ator has not been operated be~ond a predetermined level to
provide interm~ttent illumination of t~e lamps of the thiXd
lamp circuit ~ch is i~ndic~t~ve of movement of the vehicle
belo~ a known speed~ or, t~at the accelerator pedal has been
- 3 -
~ 1 7 ~
released and the brake can be applied; and a fourkh lamp
circuit operable when the accelera~o~ pedal o~ the vehicle
is moved be~vond the predetenm~ned level to operate said fur-
ther switch-means and disconnect the third lamp circuit from
thecurrent source, to provide a constant illumination of the
lamps of the fourth lamp circuit wnich is indicative of the
vehicle operating normally a~ove said known speed.
Thus the present invent:ion utilizes, in addition to
the conventional yellow direction lights and red stop lights,
a green light to indicate that the vehicle is travelling with
--
.
~ - 3a -
14~
a constant speed or is accelerating, a green blinking ligh-t
to indicate that the vehicle has ceased to accelerate and
there is a possibility of a brake being applied; a red blink-
ing light to indicate that the vehicle has stopped or travels
only with a very low speed of for example about 2 km/hr.
This invention uses a speed sensitive means and
switches mounted respectively on the brake and accelerator
pedals to control the variation of light signals. The head-
light switching on and off may be operated manually or auto-
matically. Bulbs corresponding to the indicator lamps andheadlight are provided on the instrument panel so -that the
driver may determine whether or not the lights are operating
properly.
The present invention will be further illustrated
by way of the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram for safety indicators
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
and
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the mounting of
the speed sensitive means of the safety indicator on the
speedometer of the vehicle.
The safety indicator uses the battery 1 of the
vehicle as the power source. The left portion surrounded by
dotted line in Fig. 1 is the speed sensitive means 2 which
may be mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown).
The speed sensitive means 2 includes a relay 3. The
coil 4 of relay 3 is connected at one end to the positive
terminal of the battery 1 and at the other end to the negative
terminal of the battery 1 via the collector-emitter path of
transistor 5.
The base of transistor 5 is connected to the posi-
tive terminal via the photo sensitive diode 7 within the
-- 4 --
X
1 J7~488
photo-interrupter 6 and resistor 8. The li~ht emitting diode
(LED) 9 is connected with its anode to the positive terminal
via resistor 10 and with its ca-thode -to the negative terminal
of battery 1.
The normally closed contact 11 of relay 3 is con-
nected to a red blinking light circuit A. The red blinking
light circuit A includes a winker :L2, a parallel circuit form-
ed by two sets of small red bulbs :L3a, 13b and red lamps l~a,
14b connected in series respective:Ly. The other end of the
red blinking light circuit A is connected to the ground
(negative terminal).
The normally open contact 16 of relay 3 is connected
on one hand to a brake switch 17 and on the other hand to a
headlight switch 18 via a switch 41. The brake switch 17 is
a single pole double throw (SPDT) microswitch which is mounted
- on the brake pedal and actuated by the pressure applied to
the brake pedal. The switch 41 is used to select the manual
or automatic control of headlight and the headlight switch 18
- is used for connecting the power for headlight.
The normally closed contact 19 of brake switch 17
is connected to an accelerator switch 20. Switch 20 is a
pressure sensitive switch which will not be actuated until
the pressure applied thereto has reached a predetermined level.
Switch 20 is mounted on the accelerator pedal of the vehicle
so as to be actuated by the pressure applied on the pedal.
It will be noted that the said predetermined pressure amount
may be adjusted to adapt to various vehicles and drivers,
which will be further described.
The normally closed contact 21 of switch 20 is con-
nected to a green blinking light circuit B. The green blinking
light circuit ~ includes a winker 22, a parallel circuit
X
., .
formed by two sets of small green bulbs 23a, 23b and green
lamp 24a, 24b connected in series respec-tively and a fuse 25.
The other end of green blinking light circuit B is grounded.
The normally open contact 26 of switch 20 is con-
nected to a green light circuit C including a parallel circuit
formed by two sets of small green bulbs 27a, 27b and green
lamps 28a, 28b connected in series respectively. The green
light circuit C also includes a fuse 29.
The headlight switch 18 is connected to selector
switch 30 for selecting the long-range light or short-range
light. The selector switch 30 is connected on one side to
a serial network of small bulb 31 and long-range lamp 32a and
on the other side to a serial network of small bulb 31b and
short-range lamp 32b. A fuse 33 is also provided in the head-
light circuit D.
The normally open contact 34 of brake switch 17 is
connected to a red light circuit E. The red light circuit
E includes a parallel circuit fomed by two serial networks of
small red bulbs 35a, 35b and red lamps 36a, 36b, respectively,
and a fuse 37. The other end of red light circuit E is
grounded.
The photo-interrupter 6 within speed sensitive means
2 may be mounted in the speedometer 38 in the manner shown
in Fig. 2. The needle 39 of speedometer 38 is provided with
a strip 40 at the free end as shown in Fig. 2, in which the
strip 40 is located in the space between photo-sensitive diode
7 and light emitting diode 9 of the photo-interrupter 6. It
will be noted that the photo-interrupter 6 may be mounted in
other relationships with the speedometer 38.
The lamps 14a, 24a, 28a and 36a are mounted at the
tail of the vehicle and the lamps 14b, 24b, 28b and 36b are
-- 6 --
I l7148~ :
mounted at the head of the vehicle. The only requirement for
the mounting of these lamps is that they should be provided
in visible positions. The small bulbs 13a, 13b, 35a, 35b, 23a,
23b, 27a, 27b, 31a and 31b are mounted on the instrument panel
of the vehicle. The long-range lamp 32a and short-range lamp
32b are mounted on the head of the vehicle in a conventional
manner.
When the driver inserts a key into the ignition
switch (not shown) of the car to connect this circuit to the
power supply, the safety indicator is in a static condition.
While the needle 39 of speedometer 38 ~Fig. 2) is indicating
the position of 0 km/hr., the strip 40 remains in the photo-
interrupter 6. Therefore the light of light emitting diode
9 cannot reach the photo sensitive diode 7. The high resis-
tance of photo sensitive diode 7 keeps transistor 5 in the
cut off region.
The coil 4 of relay 3 does not operate without a
current flow. Therefore the current flows from the positive
terminal of battery 1 to the red blinking light circuit A
via the normally closed contact 11. The serial networks of
red bulbs 13a and 13b and lamps 14a and 14b are blinked by
means of the winker 12. Thus the red lamps provided on the
head and tail of the vehicle and the bulbs on the instrument
panel blinks. Under such conditions neither the pressing of
the accelerator pedal nor that of the brake pedal will affect
the blinking red lamps. This blinking red light may show
that the vehicle is in a stopping status.
~ hen the vehicle is put into first gear, the accel~
erator pedal is pressed to accelerate the vehicle, however
the red blinking light will not be changed until the needle
39 of the speedometer 38 is rotated a predetermined angle by
- 7 -
~( '
~ ~7~488
the travelling speed of the vehicle so as to move -the strip
40 out of the photo-interrupter 6.
When the vehicle speed has reached a certain speed
(e.g. about 2 km/hr.), the rotation of needle 39 will move
strip 40 out of photo-interrup-ter 6. It is to be noted that
a speed of 2 km/hr. is very s ow and may be readily obtained
by slightly accelerating the vehicle. The movement of strip
40 out of photo-interrupter 6 causes the light of light
emitting diode 9 to be projected on the photo sensitive diode
7. The photo sensitive diode 7 then presen-ts a low resistance
and transis-tor 5 conducts under the bias current flowing
therethrough.
Then the coil 4 of relay 3 is energized and the
~ normally open contact 16 is connected to the positive terminal
of battery 1. The operation of red blinking light circuit A
ceases. The power is fed to the green blinking light circuit
B through the contact 19 of the brake switch 17 and the nor-
mally closed contact 21 of the accelerator switch 20. Then
the green bulbs 23a and 23b mounted on the instrument panel
and green lamps 24a and 24b on the head and tail of the
vehicle blink under the control of winker 22.
As it is mentioned in the above, the accelerator
switch 20 will not be actuated until the pressure applied
thereon has reached a predetermined level. In a preferred
embodiment, the actuating pressure level is adjusted to
three-tenths of the pressure applied when the accelerator
pedal is pressed do~in completely (top-speed). In other words,
the green blinking circuit B keeps the lamps therein blink-
ing until the accelerator pedal is pressed over three-tenths.
This indicates that although the vehicle is moving, it has
not reached the top speed thereof or the accelerator pedal
has been released and there is the possibility of applying
-- 8
~ ~ 7~ 48B
the brake.
When the accelerator pedal has been pressed to a
certain degree so that the vehicle is -travelling with top-
speed and -the accelerator switch 20 is actuated, the green
blinking light ceases the circuit C via contact 26 and the
green bulbs 27a and 27b and green lamps 28a and 28b are lit
up. This indicates that the vehicle is travelling normally.
If the driver has found that the road conditions are
bad and tries to slow down. The switch 20 is returnéd to the normal
mode when the accelerator pedal is released to be under the predetermined
pressure. The current is again fed to:the green blinking light circuit B
and this causes the green steady signal to revert to the green
blinking signal which indlcates that the vehicle has ceased to
accelerate and there:is a p~ssibility of t'ne brake being applied.
When the driver presses the brake pedal, the actuat~
ed brake switch 17 feeds the current to the red light circuit
E through contact 34. The red lamps mounted on the head and
tail of the vehicle and the red bulbs on the instrument panel
light up and indicate that the brake has been applied. Both
the green light circuits B and C are deactuated since the
current is no longer fed to the switch 20.
~ hen the vehicle is slowed down by the brake until
the needle 39 has fallen within the predetermined range, the
strip 40 returns into the photo-interrupter 6 and the relay 3
is deenergized since the bias for transistor 5 is out. The
current is again :Eed to the red blinking circuit A through
contact 11 and therefore the red blinking signal lightes up.
~ henevex the vehicle is stopped the blinking red
signal will show this condition for the drivers in other
vehicles.
Moreove:r, the headlight circuit D will not have the
power supply until the speed of the vehicle has exceeded a
_ 9 _
X
1 1 7~4~8
predetermined level. When the vehicle is used at night, the
headlight switch 18 is closed and the switch 30 may be used
to select the long-range lamp 32a or short-range lamp 32b.
When the contact 16 of relay 3 is actuated by the speed, the
current may be fed to the selected headlight lamp and the
current will cease when the relay 3 is deenergized due to the
low speed. Thus, the headlight lamps 32a and 32b are turned
off during the stop status of the vehicle and are turned on
again when the vehicle moves again.
The switch 41 is provided for the selection of manu-
al control or automatic control of the headlight lamps.
The functions of the safety indicator for the vehicle
of this invention are set forth in Table 1 for better reference.
3p
.
-- 10 --
~ 17~1~8~
Table 1
VEHICLE STATUS INDICATING SIGNAL MEANING
. _
1. The vehicle has Please note the
stopped. status of this
2. The vehicle has Blinking vehicle and be
just started but Red careful.
a predetermined Light
speed has not been
reached.
The speed of -the 1. The vehicle is
moving but has
vehicle has reached Blinking not reached a
steady speed.
the predetermined Green
2. The road con-
standard but the Light dition is bad,
the vehicle is
vehicle has not yet not accelerat-
ing and there
reached top-speed. is a possibili-
ty of ap~ying
a brake.
_
The vehicle is
travelling with a
steady speed or Steady
~0 accelerating (the Green The vehicle is
accelerator pedal Light travelling steadily
has been pressed or accelerating.
being at a predeter-
mined degree).
.,
A brake is being The brake of the
applied to the Steady vehicle has been
vehicle. Red applied and the
Light vehicle is slowing
down.
- 11 --
X
. 1 J 714~
By means of the safety indicator of this invention,
all the various statuses of the vehicle may be clearly shown
to the other drivers. Thereiore the drivers in other vehicles
may have sufficient time to take proper action and the fre-
quency of accidents may be lowered to a minimum. This inven-
tion is especially effective and useful when vehicles are
travelling on the freeway. Since all the lamps such as the
red and green lamps or the headlights have respective serially
connected small bulbs mounted on the instrument panel, the
driver may check them without leav:ing the vehicle. When the
vehicle stops such as before a traffic signal, the headlight
may ~e automatically switched off and will not inconvenience
drivers in other vehicles, which headlights will be lit up
when the vehicle moves again.
.
- 12 -
