Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
  • B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
  • B60Q1/44—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal
  • B60Q1/445—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal controlled by inertial devices
  • B60Q1/447—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal controlled by inertial devices with indication of the braking strength or speed changes, e.g. by changing the shape or intensity of the indication

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the technical sector of accessories for motor vehicles, and more particularly the motor vehicles themselves.
• the goal is twofold.
• the high and central position of the light allows a driver to detect, through the glass surfaces of the vehicle immediately preceding it, the fact that the preceding vehicle brakes. Its reaction time is thus significantly reduced.
• the central and elevated position of the light is directly in the field of vision of the follower conductor, which also reduces, in this case, its reaction time.
• the braking indication is not sufficient to ensure passive safety.
• the intensity of braking is also an important factor.
• the invention therefore relates to an alert device, not simply a braking intensity (of which the prior art gives numerous examples) which would cause too many ignitions and therefore would trivialize the device until it becomes ineffective (which s '' is also passed for the current brake lights) but an emergency braking warning or warning device, i.e. a device that only lights up very rarely, in the event of extremely brutal braking, at a threshold which will be fixed by a person skilled in the art according to known or easily established parameters.
• the subject of the present invention is a light warning device for intensive braking (or emergency braking), intended to be mounted at the rear of a motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises:
• said detection means comprises at least one inertial sensor capable of delivering to the electronics a modulated signal corresponding to the intensity of the braking.
• this sensor only takes into account braking, that is to say negative accelerations or decelerations, and eliminates the acceleration factors.
• said detection means comprises an emergency means connected forming an electrical contact at the stop of the brake pedal.
• said detection means comprises a connection with the ABS system of the vehicle, so that the device according to the invention is triggered when the ABS is triggered; indeed, the ABS only comes into operation during emergency braking, which is the aim of the invention, or else when braking under dangerous traffic conditions, such as rain or snow or ice, this latter type of braking can also be very usefully signaled to following vehicles thanks to the invention.
• the braking warning device comprises either a single light element or several light elements, possibly of different colors, shapes and intensity or visual appearance, or on the contrary identical.
• Each light element can consist of a single light surface or volume, such as a single lamp or a single neon element, or on the contrary consist of a plurality of light surfaces or volumes, such as a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs). , or of lamps, or of ends of optical fibers, and the like, or of any surface or luminous volume existing or which will appear in the future, and capable of producing extremely rapidly sufficient brightness to trigger a state of alertness or alert with a follower driver.
• the terms "light elements” will denote, for simplicity, this generality.
• the braking warning device is the third central brake light.
• the braking warning device is integrated into the third central brake light
• the braking warning device is adjacent to the third central brake light.
• the braking warning device is dissociated from the third central brake light.
• the device is a brake warning fire single surface or volume.
• the braking warning device is a light with multiple surfaces or volumes.
• the braking warning device is a light with multiple surfaces or volumes, of color and / or intensity and / or shape and / or visual appearance, adjacent to each other. other.
• the braking warning device is a light with multiple surfaces or volumes, of color and / or intensity and / or shape and / or visual appearance, not adjacent to each other. other.
• the on-board electronics commands the power supply module of the braking warning device to operate the latter in continuous mode when said sensor delivers a signal exceeding a predetermined intensity threshold of braking.
• the on-board electronics control the power supply module of the device brake warning to operate the latter in flashing mode when said sensor delivers a signal exceeding a predetermined threshold of braking intensity.
• the on-board electronics command the power supply module of the braking warning device to operate the latter in rapid flashing mode when said sensor delivers a signal exceeding another predetermined threshold d braking intensity.
• the on-board electronics command the power supply module of the brake warning device to operate the latter in very rapid flashing mode when said sensor delivers a signal exceeding another predetermined threshold. braking intensity.
• the on-board electronics command the power supply module of the braking warning device to operate the various light elements of the latter separately, according to an ignition and preset extinction, when said sensor delivers a signal exceeding another predetermined braking intensity threshold.
• the on-board electronics to ensure maximum safety, must be adapted so as not to interfere with the operation of the brake lights, and in particular not with the third central brake light.
• the on-board electronics and its connections to the power supply module of the braking warning device include a voltage or electrical current comparator connected so as to compare, on reception of an emergency braking signal (which triggers the emergency braking warning device according to the invention) the voltage and or the intensity of the supply current of the conventional brake light (s) with their nominal values; in the event of a value indicating that the stop light or lights are not on, the comparator sends a signal closing a backup power supply circuit for conventional stop lights.
• ADXL TM family of electronic components
• ADXL TM accelerometer sold by the company "Analog Devices TM"
• a "brake signal” SF ie a signal sent when the brake pedal is actuated, and / or when the usual STOP lights come on, arrives in the control unit.
• a REG voltage regulator transforms the signal voltage into a voltage of 5V. This signal is sent to an accelerometer which, by its function, analyzes the accelerations (in particular negative under braking, and in particular in the event of intensive braking causing a very decelerating drill, or even in the event of shock).
• the output signal from the accelerometer is sent to a voltage control oscillator (VCO), which is a voltage / frequency converter, and which is coupled to a microprocessor having a built-in memory function (MEM).
• VCO voltage control oscillator
• MEM built-in memory function
• This MEM system memorizes the frequency given by the VCO, so that, even after the vehicle has stopped, the third brake light (F) continues to flash at this frequency, as long as the brake pedal is actuated.
• the VCO therefore directs a square output signal, at a certain frequency stored in MEM, to a power component P capable of supplying the fire (F).
• This component P is essentially composed of a level translator transistor, capable of using the low power output signal from the VCO to power the fire (F) which, in turn, requires a high power supply to operate.
• This example illustrates the case of a light (F) that you want to make flashing during emergency braking.
• the invention also relates to any use, in any motor vehicle, of a device as described above.
• a person skilled in the art will of course be able to envisage other directly accessible variants, which the invention also covers, on reading this description and in the light of his own knowledge.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Lighting Device Outwards From Vehicle And Optical Signal (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9552618

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 1999
  • 1999-11-25 FR FR9914957A patent/FR2801548B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-11-20 WO PCT/FR2000/003237 patent/WO2001038138A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2000-11-20 AU AU20146/01A patent/AU2014601A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-11-20 EP EP00983383A patent/EP1235700A1/de not_active Ceased

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events