EP0451117A2 - Dispositif électronique de sécurité pour camions - Google Patents

Dispositif électronique de sécurité pour camions Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0451117A2
EP0451117A2 EP91830117A EP91830117A EP0451117A2 EP 0451117 A2 EP0451117 A2 EP 0451117A2 EP 91830117 A EP91830117 A EP 91830117A EP 91830117 A EP91830117 A EP 91830117A EP 0451117 A2 EP0451117 A2 EP 0451117A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sensor
sensors
road surface
circuit
signal
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP91830117A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0451117A3 (en
Inventor
Nevio Nati
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Danesi Michele
Morigi Giorgina
Original Assignee
Danesi Michele
Morigi Giorgina
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Danesi Michele, Morigi Giorgina filed Critical Danesi Michele
Publication of EP0451117A2 publication Critical patent/EP0451117A2/fr
Publication of EP0451117A3 publication Critical patent/EP0451117A3/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08G—TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
    • G08G1/00—Traffic control systems for road vehicles
    • G08G1/16—Anti-collision systems
    • G08G1/167—Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an improved electronic safety device for trucks. Practically no commercial vehicles currently in circulation are equipped with any system capable of warning when the vehicle begins to stray from its traffic lane.
  • an electronic safety device (disclosed in Italian patent 1,209,078) consisting in a sensor fitted to one or both sides of a truck, directed onto the road surface and serving to transduce a light input into an electrical signal that is a function of the intensity of the light source.
  • the electrical signal from the sensor is fed into a monitoring circuit of which the respective output signal becomes significant only when the sensor is exposed to an intensity of light equivalent, for example, to the yellow lines which border the hard shoulders of Italian motorways; the monitoring circuit is connected to an alarm circuit by which the driver is warned whenever the sensor produces an activating signal, i.e. whenever the vehicle encroaches on the yellow line.
  • the device in question betrays certain drawbacks in operation, however.
  • the driver has continually to adjust the beam of light that provides the luminous input; in effect, an inappropriately adjusted source can render operation of the device ineffective during daylight or night hours (depending upon the last adjustment effected), and even to a false warning signal being triggered by traffic markings painted on the road surface.
  • the object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks outlined above through the embodiment of an improved electronic safety device which exploits the various features of the arrangement described above, while giving greater precision in sensing the light input and a more reliable adjustment of the output signal.
  • an electronic safety device as characterized in the appended claims, which comprises a first sensor directed at the road surface, and a second sensor located in close proximity to and having the same technical and operating specifications as the first sensor and directed likewise at the road surface; the two sensors are connected to the inputs of a single comparator circuit, of which the output signal serves to activate an alarm circuit each time the sensors generate respective and dissimilar signals in response to different luminous intensities and/or wavelengths in a beam of light projected toward and reflected onto the sensors simultaneously from two different heterochromatic areas of the road surface corresponding respectively to the bare surfacing material and to a white or yellow line, or other specific traffic markings.
  • the first sensor 1 is invested by a beam emitted from the light source 3 and reflected off the road surface 2, which it transduces into an electrical signal that is a function of the luminous intensity or wavelength of the light input, these parameters in turn being influenced by the presence of a white or yellow line 4 or other specific traffic markings applied to the road surface 2.
  • the signal from the first sensor 1 provides the input to a monitoring circuit 5, of which the output furnishes a signal capable of activating an alarm circuit 6 whenever the beam from the light source is reflected from the lines 4 or other road markings.
  • a second sensor 7 positioned in close proximity to and having the same technical and operating specifications as the first sensor 1; the second sensor 7 is also directed at the road surface 2, needless to say.
  • the sensors 1 and 7 are positioned one on either side of the light source 3, parallel one with the other, and connected one to each input of a comparator circuit 8 of which the output pilots the operation of the alarm circuit 6.
  • the comparator circuit 8 might be an integrated circuit, for example, of which the inputs are in receipt of the signals from the first and second sensors 1 and 7; more exactly, the comparator 8 is located between the two sensors 1 and 7 on the one hand, and the monitoring circuit 5 by which the alarm circuit 6 is activated, as aforementioned, on the other.
  • Activation of the alarm circuit 6 occurs every time dissimilar output signals are emitted by the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 7 in response to different luminous intensities and/or wavelengths in the same reflected beam of light, to which both sensors are exposed; the difference in question is due to the fact that the beam is thrown at one and the same moment onto two dissimilar heterochromatic surfaces, corresponding respectively to the bare road surface 2, and to the white or yellow line 4 or other road marking applied to the surface (see fig 2a).
  • the alarm circuit 6 is activated by the monitoring circuit 5 whenever a given part of the beam is reflected back onto the one sensor off the bare road surface 2, whilst the remaining part of the beam is reflected back onto the other sensor off a line 4 or other marking, given that it is a disparity between the two transduced signals that causes the comparator 8 to activate the monitoring circuit 5. Accordingly, as long as the position of the two sensors 1 and 7, hence of the vehicle 9, remains stably within the confines of the traffic lane or carriageway, such that a light of uniform intensity and/or wavelength is reflected back onto both of the sensors 1 and 7, then identical signals are returned to the comparator 8 and no activating signal will be received by the monitoring circuit 5 from the comparator (fig 2b).
  • the advantage of such an arrangement is that, when the vehicle and the device pause or pass over road markings other than lane or carriageway lines 4, e.g. exit arrows or lines running across the carriageway, the output signals from the sensors 1 and 7 remain identical (both sensors exposed to light reflected from the arrow or the line), and the monitoring circuit 5 receives no signal from the comparator circuit 8 capable of activating the alarm circuit 6, which would serve only to disturb the driver in such a situation.
  • FIG. 3 shows a truck 9 fitted with two such devices 100 positioned one at each end of the front bumper bar 14.
  • the bracket 12 is embodied substantially as a cup with a peripheral flanged fixing lip 121, insertable into a sealed cover 20, and affords an external, essentially central socket (not visible in the drawings) for accommodation and retention of the lamp 15, to which electrical power is supplied by way of contacts 21 coinciding with the socket and passing through the bracket 12.
  • 122 denotes a threaded outer boss afforded by the bracket in a position coaxial with the socket, onto which a collar 22 is screwed to retain the lamp 15.
  • the collar 22 is also threaded externally, at least in part, to permit of attaching one threaded end of a sleeve 17 accommodating an optical assembly 13. More exactly, the space encompassed by the sleeve 17 accommodates a second sleeve 16 embodied in two matching halves 16a, 16b disposed on either side of a longitudinal median plane of the sleeve itself.
  • the inner sleeve 16 is held internally of the outer sleeve 17 by a terminal annular lip not visible in the drawings, and affords three distinct annular grooves 161 at given points along its own length, as discernible in fig 5, in which to accommodate a pair of lenses 131, 132 constituting the optical assembly 13, and a protective glass 18.
  • the lenses 131 and 132 are positioned nearer to the lamp 15, whilst the glass 18 (which in practice might be embodied in any suitable transparent material) is accommodated within and in sealed association with the groove 161 farthest from the lamp 15.
  • the bracket 12 further comprises two holes located one on either side of the contacts 21 by means of which to fix the sensors 1 and 7, which might be photoresistors or photodiodes, internally of two cylindrical tubes 23 extending parallel with and substantially equal in length to the sleeve 17, as discernible from fig 4.
  • the provision of the tubes 23 has the effect of exposing the sensors 1 and 7 only to the beam 31 radiating from the electric lamp 15, focused by the lenses 131 and 132 and reflected back off the road surface 2 or the line 4.
  • the bracket 12 is thus fixed to the underside of the front bumper bar 14 of the truck 9 in such a way as to dispose the sleeve 17 and the tubes 23 substantially vertical and aligned in a direction perpendicular to the path followed by the vehicle, hence to the line 4.
  • the device as illustrated in figs 1 to 3 can be completed (as shown in fig 4) by cascading the alarm circuit 6, or the monitoring circuit 5 (see phantom line), into a switch 19 and a timer 11.
  • selected warning and/or safety systems of the vehicle 9 can be interlocked to the timer 11, and in the event that the switch 19 remains closed and a signal is emitted continuously from the output of the monitoring circuit 5 or the alarm circuit 6 for longer than a prescribed period, the systems in question will be triggered into operation.
  • systems interlocked to the timer 11 might be the hazard warning lights, the brakes and the ignition/fuel supply circuits of the vehicle 9, in such a way that operation of the timer 11 causes the hazard warning lights to flash, the brakes to be applied and the engine to cut out.
  • the device according to the invention thus provides a highly effective and dependable safety mechanism, by virtue of using two sensors which, in practice, control one another; the use of two sensors also enables a better utilization of the device during daytime hours (i.e. in diffused light), without necessarily having to adjust the alarm setting.
  • Such an adjustment can be made nonetheless, for example by way of a potentiometer 10 associated with the monitoring circuit 5, which permits of selecting the threshold above which the monitoring circuit 5, in receipt of an output signal from the comparator circuit 8, triggers the alarm circuit 6 into operation.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Traffic Control Systems (AREA)
  • Auxiliary Drives, Propulsion Controls, And Safety Devices (AREA)
  • Emergency Alarm Devices (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)
EP19910830117 1990-04-05 1991-03-26 An improved electronic safety device for trucks Withdrawn EP0451117A3 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT343490 1990-04-05
IT3434A IT1238543B (it) 1990-04-05 1990-04-05 Dispositivo elettronico di sicurezza per automezzi perfezionato.

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0451117A2 true EP0451117A2 (fr) 1991-10-09
EP0451117A3 EP0451117A3 (en) 1992-10-07

Family

ID=11107305

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19910830117 Withdrawn EP0451117A3 (en) 1990-04-05 1991-03-26 An improved electronic safety device for trucks

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0451117A3 (fr)
JP (1) JPH04271411A (fr)
AU (1) AU7409791A (fr)
CA (1) CA2039282A1 (fr)
IT (1) IT1238543B (fr)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1997017686A1 (fr) * 1995-11-06 1997-05-15 Michel Cuvelier Dispositif de surveillance routiere
GB2317009A (en) * 1996-09-07 1998-03-11 John Joseph Green driver sleep warning system
WO1998019281A1 (fr) * 1996-10-28 1998-05-07 Cubero Samuel N Jr Detection des limites d'une route
WO2002071363A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-12 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
FR2821963A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-13 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Sa Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
DE10135108A1 (de) * 2001-04-23 2002-10-24 Adc Automotive Dist Control Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Fahrspurerkennung
GB2410327A (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-27 Chi-Jui Huang White line crossing warning device
DE102004061822A1 (de) * 2003-12-22 2006-03-16 Volkswagen Ag Verfahren zur Erkennung von Fahrbahnmarkierungen und Fahrerassistenzsystem
GB2420404A (en) * 2004-11-23 2006-05-24 Chi-Jui Huang An alerting system of a vehicle deviating from its traffic lane

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN106558229A (zh) * 2015-09-30 2017-04-05 中兴通讯股份有限公司 一种控制方法及装置

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4348652A (en) * 1980-09-29 1982-09-07 Robert R. Barnes Driver alert system
EP0272251A4 (fr) * 1985-09-27 1988-10-24 Colin Richard Power Dispositif pour ameliorer la securite routiere.

Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5982278A (en) * 1995-11-06 1999-11-09 Cuvelier; Michel Road monitoring device
WO1997017686A1 (fr) * 1995-11-06 1997-05-15 Michel Cuvelier Dispositif de surveillance routiere
GB2317009A (en) * 1996-09-07 1998-03-11 John Joseph Green driver sleep warning system
WO1998019281A1 (fr) * 1996-10-28 1998-05-07 Cubero Samuel N Jr Detection des limites d'une route
US6925859B2 (en) 2001-03-08 2005-08-09 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Sa Device for detecting a running surface and vehicle using same
WO2002071363A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-12 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
FR2821963A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-13 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Sa Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
FR2821962A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-09-13 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Sa Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
WO2002077948A1 (fr) * 2001-03-08 2002-10-03 Peugeot Citroen Automobiles Dispositif de detection d'une surface de roulement pour vehicule et vehicule utilisant un tel dispositif
DE10135108A1 (de) * 2001-04-23 2002-10-24 Adc Automotive Dist Control Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Fahrspurerkennung
DE10135108B4 (de) * 2001-04-23 2012-06-21 Automotive Distance Control Systems Gmbh Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Fahrspurerkennung
DE102004061822A1 (de) * 2003-12-22 2006-03-16 Volkswagen Ag Verfahren zur Erkennung von Fahrbahnmarkierungen und Fahrerassistenzsystem
DE102004061822B4 (de) * 2003-12-22 2018-10-31 Volkswagen Ag Verfahren zur Erkennung von Fahrbahnmarkierungen und Fahrerassistenzsystem
GB2410327A (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-27 Chi-Jui Huang White line crossing warning device
GB2420404A (en) * 2004-11-23 2006-05-24 Chi-Jui Huang An alerting system of a vehicle deviating from its traffic lane
GB2420404B (en) * 2004-11-23 2010-06-16 Chi-Jui Huang Alerting system of a vehicle deviating from its traffic lane

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IT1238543B (it) 1993-08-18
EP0451117A3 (en) 1992-10-07
AU7409791A (en) 1991-10-10
ITBO903434A1 (it) 1991-10-05
CA2039282A1 (fr) 1991-10-06
IT9003434A0 (it) 1990-04-05
JPH04271411A (ja) 1992-09-28

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