GB2034472A - Vehicle warning device - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle has a device for warning the driver of the presence of a further vehicle at his rear near-side and/or at his rear off-side. Preferably, warning signals are provided by one or more sensors responsive to the reflection of optical radiation or ultrasonic vibrations emitted from one or more transmitters on the vehicle.

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle warning device This invention relates to road vehicles.

A danger which arises in driving occurs when the driver wishes to change direction, for example to overtake another vehicle or to pull in to the near-side of the road after having overtaken, and is unaware of the presence of a further vehicle, or incorrectly assumes how close another vehicle is. This can result in the driver manoeuvring his vehicle into the path of the other vehicle. This problem is particularly prevalent in the case of long lorries, and when the rear-view mirrors do not provide a sufficiently clear and complete view of the traffic close to the rear end of the lorry. The problem is also prevalent if the vehicle includes a trailer, in which case it may be difficult to obtain a clear view of the traffic at the rear of the trailer.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a vehicle having at or near its rear end a sensor operable in use to send to the driver of the vehicle an indication of the presence of a further vehicle disposed rearwardly and at one side of the firstmentioned vehicle.

The sensor may be mounted on the vehicle's near-side, so that when the driver overtakes another vehicle he is given a warning not to pull in to the near-side of the road until he has passed the vehicle being overtaken. Alternatively, the sensor may be mounted on the vehicle's off-side to warn the driver when another vehicle starts to overtake, so that the driver himself will not attempt to overtake a further vehicle until he has been passed.

Of course the vehicle could have a sensor at each side to accomplish both these functions.

The sensor may be arranged to be made operable in response to the driver operating the vehicle direction indicator switch in the appropriate sense.

In this manner, the driver is provided with an automatic warning system which is brought into operation as soon as he signals an intention to change direction. Alternatively, or also, a separate switch may be provided to bring the warning system into operation at the driver's command.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, an energy transmitter is provided, and arranged so that the transmitted energy can be reflected from a further vehicle and then picked up by the sensor, which then provides a signal to operate an indicator, preferably, the energy is in the form of ultrasonic vibrations. The transmitter and sensor may be formed by separate ultrasonic transducers, or by a common transducer.

An arrangement embodying the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates the principle by which the sensors in a vehicle in accordance with the invention operate, and Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of an example of the electrical construction of the warning device formed by the sensors.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a section 2 of a motorway on which a vehicle 4 in accordance with the invention is travelling. The vehicle is a long lorry, and has at its near-side and adjacent the rear end a pair of ultrasonic transducers in the form of a transmitter 6 and a receiver 8. At a corresponding position on its off-side, the vehicle 4 has another pair of transducers forming-atransmitter 10 and a receiver 12.

The transmitters 6 and 10 emit ultrasonic vibrations, as indicated in broken lines. The presence of a further vehicle, such as vehicle 14 or 16, in the path of these vibrations will cause them to be reflected to the respective receiver 8 or 12.

When a receiver 8 or 12 picks up the reflected vibrations, a signal is provided to operate an indicatorso as to warn the driver of the vehicle 4 of the presence of the vehicle reflecting the vibrations.

As will be described later, means are provided for adjusting the intensity of the vibrations emitted from the transmitters 6 and 10. Additionally, means are preferably provided for varying the directions and widths of the beams formed by the transmitted ultrasonic vibrations; this could be achieved by providing each transmitter with a variable aperture through which the beams are transmitted, and/or adjustably mounting the receivers and/or transmitters so that they can be positioned to face in any desired direction. Means may also be provided for adjusting the sensitivities of the receivers 8 and 12.

In this manner, it is possible to choose an appropriate range of positions of a further vehicle 14 or 16 in which the driver of the vehicle 4 is provided with an indication of the presence of the further vehicle.

Thus, the relative positions, in the direction of travel, of the vehicle 4 and the further vehicle 14 or 16 at which the driver is given a warning can be adjusted appropriately, as can be the clearances, i.e. the relative positions transverse to the direction of travel.

In operation, if the driver of the vehicle 4 wishes to pull in to the near-side lane 18 of the road after having overtaken the vehicle 14, the warning system including the transmitter 6 and receiver 8 are put into operation, e.g. by the driver operating his direction indicator switch to signal that he is pulling in. The vibrations from the transmitter 6 will be reflected from the vehicle 14 to the receiver 8, thereby to provide the driver with a warning that he should not commence pulling in, until the vehicle 4 has completely overtaken the vehicle 14. At that time the warning ceases, so that the driver is aware of the relative position of the vehicle 14 and can commence pulling in.

If, however, the driver of the vehicle 4 wishes to move into the off-side lane 20 to overtake a further vehicle 22, the warning system including the transmitter 10 and receiver 12 is put into operation. If at this time, a further vehicle 16 has started to overtake the vehicle 4, vibrations from the transmitter 10 are reflected to the receiver 12 so as to warn the driver of the situation. The arrangement could be such that the warning system including the transmitter 10 and the receiver 12 are put into operation when the driver of the vehicle 4 signals that he wishes to move into the off-side lane.

The near-side circuitry 24 includes a supply line 28 connected to the vehicle's earth and a supply line 30 connected via a manually operable switch 32 to the positive side of the vehicle battery (or negative side when the vehicle has a positive earth supply), as indicated at 34.

With the switch 32 closed, power is supplied through a variable resistor 36 to the transmitter 6, to cause the latter to emit ultrasonic vibrations. The resistor 36 can be altered so as to vary the intensity of the transmitted ultrasonic vibrations.

Vibrations picked up by the receiver 8 are converted into electrical signals, which are passed to an amplifier 38. The amplified signals are then passed to a trigger 40, e.g. in the form of a Schmitt trigger.

When the vibrations received by the receiver 8 are sufficiently intense, the output of the trigger 40 changes from a low level to a high level, and this causes an electronic switch 42, e.g. in the form of a transistor, to close. An indicator lamp 44 is thus connected to the supply line 30, so that the lamp is illuminated to give the driver a warning of the presence of a vehicle at his rear and on the near-side.

An audio indicator could be used in place of or as well as the visual indicator formed by the lamp 44.

The off-side circuitry 26, including the transmitter 10, the receiver 12, a switch 46 for energising the circuitry 26, an amplifier 48, a trigger 50, an electronic switch 52, and an indicator lamp 54, operates in the same manner as the near-side circuitry 24, and further description is deemed unnecessary.

The driver can bring either or both of the near-side and off-side warning systems into operation when desired by using the switches 32 and 46. In addition, provision is made for the automatic operation of the systems in response to the driver operating his direction indicator switch 56.

For the purpose, the switch 32 is connected in parallel with a pair of series-connected switches 58 and 60. Similarly, the switch 46 is connected in parallel with series-connected switches 62 and 64.

The switches 60 and 64 form respective poles of a two-pole, four-way switch, and are operated in unison. The switches have four position, a, b, c and d.

With the switches in position d, supply voltage from the terminal indicated at 34 is passed to the switches 58 and 62. The switch 58 is arranged to be closed when the driver moves the direction indicator switch 56 in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 2 so as to indicate a leftturn. The closing of switch 58 causes supply voltage to be passed to the near-side circuitry 24, so as to bring the near-side warning system into operation.

In a similar manner, if the driver indicates a right turn, the switch 62 is closed so as to energise the off-side circuitry 26.

With the switches 60 and 64 in the position a, the automatic operation of the warning systems under the control of the direction indicator switch 56 is disabled, and the systems can be brought into operation only by closing the switches 32 and 46.

With the switches 60 and 64 in position b, only the near-side circuitry 24 can be brought into operation under the control of the direction indicator switch 56.

With the switches 60 and 64 in position c, only the off-side circuitry 26 can be brought into operation under the control of the indicator switch 56.

Thus, the driver can choose between automatic operation of both the near-side and off-side warning systems under the control of the direction indicator switch 56, automatic operation of only a selected one of these systems, or only manual operation of the systems, and in any event has a manual override facility provided by the switches 32 and 46 when an automatic mode of operation is chosen.

If the driver desires automatic operation only when he overtakes a vehicle, or only when he is being overtaken, this mode of operation can be maintained in systems in which the vehicles travel on the left hand side of the road as well as in systems in which they travel on the right-hand side of the road simply by repositioning the switches 60 and 64.

Instead of separate indicators for warning the driver of the presence of vehicles on his off-side and near-side, a single indicator may be provided. In this case, the outputs of the receivers 8 and 12 may be connected to a common amplifier, trigger, and electronic switch.

If desired, the vehicle may be provided with only a near-side warning system, or only an off-side warning system.

The means for adjusting the intensity of the transmitted ultrasonic vibrations (e.g. the variable resistor 36) are preferably accessible to the driver when he is driving the vehicle so as to permit remote adjustment. Also, the transmitter and receiver are preferably adjustable so as to detect vehicles within the range of about 5 to 6 feet. They are also preferably adjustable to detect vehicles positioned wholly behind the vehicle on which they are mounted, as well as when they are only partially behind the vehicle, to provide a safety factor in the warning given to the driver.

In a preferred form of the invention, the or each sensor on the vehicle is adjustably mounted in such a manner that it can be positioned so as to detect objects directly behind the vehicle. This will assist the driver in docking or parking the vehicle. The re-positioning of the sensor (or, if the ultrasonic transducers described above are used, the transmitter and receiver) could be achieved automatically.

For example, the sensor could be pivotally mounted, means being provided to swing the sensor through 90" so that it will detect vibrations from the rear of the vehicle rather than from one side thereof.

A solenoid may be provided for moving the sensor in this manner. Alternatively, an electric motor could be provided to move the sensor, for example, via a gear train, to permit continuous adjustment of the sensor position. In either case, a control switch for causing the sensor movement is preferably accessible to the driver when he is in the driving position.

In another embodiment the vehicle is provided with an additional sensor arranged to detect objects directly behind the vehicle for use in docking or parking.

Various alternative embodiments are possible. For example, instead of ultrasonic vibrations, light, e.g.

from a laser, could be used.

In another form of the invention the vehicle includes a trailer, and the sensor or sensors are mounted at or near the rear end of the trailer to give the driver an indication when a further vehicle is close to the rear end.

Claims (14)

1. A road vehicle having at or near its rear end a sensor operable in use to send to the driver of the vehicle an indication of the presence of a further vehicle disposed rearwardly and at one side of the first-mentioned vehicle.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1 including means for transmitting energy, the sensor being responsive to the reflection of said energy from said further vehicle.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the energy is in the form of ultrasonic vibrations.

4. Avehicle as claimed in claim 3 wherein the transmitter and the sensor comprise a pair of ultrasonic transducers.

5. A vehicle as claimed in claim 3 wherein the transmitter and the sensor comprise a single ultrasonic transducer.

6. A vehicle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including means for varying the range of the further vehicle in which said indication is provided.

7. A vehicle as claimed in claim 6 as appendent to any one of claims 2 to 5, including means for adjusting the intensity of the transmitted energy.

8. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim including means responsive to the operation of a direction indicator switch of the vehicle for enabling the provision of said indication.

9. Avehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, including a further sensor operable to send to the drive an indication of the presence of a further vehicle disposed rearwardly and at the other side of the first-mentioned vehicle.

10. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim having a visual indicator to provide said indication.

11. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim having an audible indicator to provide said indication.

12. A vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in the form of a lorry.

13. A vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 including a trailer.

14. 14. A road vehicle substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.