GB2450882A

GB2450882A - Bicycle direction indicators

Info

Publication number: GB2450882A
Application number: GB0713313A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Russell James Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-07-10
Filing date: 2007-07-10
Publication date: 2009-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 2027-07-10
Also published as: GB2450882B; GB0713313D0

Abstract

A light assembly comprising a light emitting arrangement (DU) of Light Emitting Diodes and a control arrangement (ECU-LC), the control arrangement being configured to cause the light emitting arrangement to display an indication of direction which appears to move in the indicated direction and change in size. For use as direction indicators on bicycles in particular.

Description

LIGHT ASSEMBLY

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to light assemblies, and in particular, although not exclusively, to light assemblies for bicycles.

Background

A cyclist may move from the inside of a road lane to the outside, in front of moving traffic, without looking behind and/or indicating. Many cyclists have either never learnt to use hand signals properly or do not like using them. We have realised that it would be desirable to provide a device to provide other road users with an earlier warning of direction changes.

In the dark, it can be very difficult to discern hand signals provided by a cyclist, particularly if the cyclist is not wearing any reflective clothing on his arms. Additionally, a cyclist generally cannot maintain arm signals when braking before a turn whilst descending a hill. It can also be particularly difficult (in the dark) for oncoming road users to see a cyclist's arm indications if the bicycle has a front lamp active which has high luminosity.

There are situations when a cyclist has to take a particularly vulnerable position on the road. An example might be at a wide junction with a filter-lane to turn left at which the cyclist wants to carry straight on -the cyclist then has to take a more central road position.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention there is provided a light assembly as claimed in claim 1.

A preferred embodiment of the invention may be viewed as a combined indication, visibility and warning assembly.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a light assembly; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the light assembly of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear view of the light assembly of Figure 1 mounted on a bicycle; Figure 4 is a rear view of the display unit of the light assembly of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a referenced front view of the light assembly of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a front view of a control unit of the light assembly of Figure 1; Figure 7 is a rear view of a control unit of Figure 1; Figure 8 is a rear view of the display unit with the control unit attached thereto; Figure 9 is a schematic circuit diagram of the control unit and peripheral items; Figure 10 is a table showing the sequences of activation for the illumination elements of the display unit; Figure 11 is a schematic representation of a control unit connected to two display units and user operable switches; Figures 12 to 15 show progressive snapshot views of the different displayed indications; Figure 16 shows an alternative display of an indication of direction; Figure 17 is a front view of a second embodiment of a display unit; Figure 18 shows three progressive snapshot views of a display unit of Figure 17 showing an indication of direction; Figure 19 is a table showing the sequence of elements illuminated for the display of Figure 18; Figure 20 is a front view of a third embodiment of a display unit, and Figure 21 shows progressive snapshot views of the display unit of Figure 20 showing an indication of direction.

Description of Exemplary Embodiments of the Invention With reference initially to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, a light display assembly comprises a display unit DU which is provided with a plurality of light emitting elements that can be illuminated. These "illumination elements" IE1, 1E2, etc are mounted in a lattice configuration on the front face of a housing or case DU-CA. The illumination elements are shown as LEDs, however, in alternative embodiments the illumination elements may comprise filament bulbs and/or pixels of an electronic visual display assembly. The front face of the housing may be provided with a man black finish to provide maximum contrast when the illumination elements IE are powered.

At the centre of the lattice is a high luminosity "visibility" lamp VLMP, which is physically distinct from the illumination elements, which emits a red colour for a display unit mounted at the rear of the bicycle and emits a white colour for a front-mounted unit. Additional visibility lamps can be fitted onto available space on the front of the display unit. It will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments other colours or a combination of colours may be emitted.

On the rear of the display unit are mounted connectors DU-CON1 and DU-CON2 to connect the display unit to either an electronic control unit ECU or to another display unit. The ECU can be connected directly to the display unit via DU-CON1 (as shown in Figure 8).

Switches (not shown) mounted internally of the display unit DU are used to address (code) the display unit and selectively power the illumination elements JE of the display unit. These switches are mounted inside the display unit.

Threaded holes, DU-HOl to 4, on the rear of the unit allow the electronic control unit ECU to be firmly attached to the display unit.

Bracket limbs MBK1 and MBK2 are used to attach the display unit to a bracket on the bicycle. MBK1 and MBK2 can also be used to attach the display unit to another structure away from the bicycle (for example, a post).

Reference is now made to Figure 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The control unit ECU comprises a plurality of components mounted within (and on) a housing or case ECU-CA.

On the rear face of the housing (Figure 7), override switches ECU-SW-R, ECU-SW-L, ECU-SW-F, ECU-SW-W and ECU-SW-V allow the unit to be operated in a stand-alone mode (ie when not mounted on the bicycle).

A connector ECU-CONI mounted into the front of the ECU case is used to connect the ECU to a display unit DU either directly or via a cable DU-CBL as shown in Figure 10.

A connector ECU-CON2 mounted into the rear of the control unit ECU case is used to connect the control unit ECU to the bicycle-mounted switches (Figure 10) via a cable ECU-CBL. These external switches are (normally) used by the rider to activate the indication patterns and the lamp VLMP.

Terminals ECU-TB1 are provided to allow an external power source to be used. For external power operation, the link ECU-LK1 within the control unit ECU is removed.

Terminals ECU-TB2 are provided for disabling/dimming external lamps of the bicycle.

Internally, the control unit ECU comprises the following components: * An electronic logic controller ECU-LC to execute the logic sequencing * An optional battery supplying power ECU-BATT Figure 1 shows an assembly with a display comprising sixteen illumination elements IE1- 16 which can be energised to form three "arrowheads' in both the right, left and forward directions (Figures 12, 13, 14). The illumination elements emit colours chosen to suit any highway regulations applying.

In response to the closing of external switches EX-SW-R, EX-SW-L, EX-SW-F or EX-SW-W for left, right, forward or warning indications respectively, the logic controller ECU-LC starts a repeating cycle. At different points during each cycle, an indication pattern is formed by energising the required illumination elements in a predetermined sequence.

In a modified embodiment an audible signal may be emitted to indicate to the rider that the left, right, forward or warning indication is activated.

The table of Figure 10 shows timings to create the different indication patterns. In the examples, indication is triggered at time T0. The value 8 represents a time increment of typically 0.2 seconds.

The above described arrangement can be adapted to control display units DU comprising two or more patterns (arrowheads) for each direction indicated.

The warning indication, shown in Figure 15, is a diamond shape which grows in size. The warning indication may be used to indicate to others that a cyclist is stopped at a hazardous position on a highway.

Different styles of indication patterns can be created by suitably programming the logic controller ECU-LC. Figure 16 shows an effect where the arrowheads "accumulate" (or "stack") before scrolling away from the end of the display.

Different styles of warning patterns can also be created by programming the logic controller ECU-LC appropriately.

Increased visual discrimination between left and right indications can be achieved by sequencing the logic controller outputs at different rates for each direction and this enhances the visual recognition of the direction indicated. For example, the right indication motion can be made faster than the left indication motion to identify the more dangerous right-turn manoeuvre on left-hand drive roads.

The indication and motion effect is also achieved with a single arrow head displayed by an alternative display unit DU', by switching individual illumination elements in sequence to produce an arrowhead which diminishes in size towards the indicated direction as shown in Figures 17 and 18. The switching sequence (for right indication) for such a display is shown in the table of Figure 19.

An alternative display unit DU" shown in Figure 20 is elongated (compared to the above embodiments) to provide longer lasting indication patterns as shown in Figure 21.

The assembly is provided with an "enabling" feature for powering the illumination elements of the connected displays. When utilised, each connected display unit DU can only energise its illumination elements IE when an enabling code issued from the electronic control unit matches the code (address) of the relevant display unit. This feature is used for power saving when more than one display is connected (as only one display is active at any given time). For example, on the first cycle of the electronic logic controller, the first display (at the rear of the bicycle) is activated. On the next cycle, the second display (on the front of the bicycle) is activated. The cycle is repeated for as long as indication is occurring.

The visibility lamp VLMP can be switched on and off using an external switch EX-SW-V or using the switch ECU-SW-V mounted on the electronic control unit ECU. When any indication is occurring (ie right, left, forward, warning) the ECU disables the visibility lamps on all display units DU connected. When indication is finished, the ECU re-enables the visibility lamps.

Claims

1. A light assembly comprising a light emitting arrangement and a control arrangement, the control arrangement being configured to cause the light emitting arrangement to display an indication of direction which appears to move in the indicated direction and/or change in size.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the indication of direction is substantially of arrowhead form.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or in claim 2 which is configured to be capable of displaying an indication of a left direction and a right direction.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which the apparent rate of movement of the indication of the left direction is different to that of the indication of the right direction.

5. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim which is configured to be capable of displaying an indication of a forward direction.

6. An assembly as claimed in preceding claims 3, 4 or 5 which is configured to be capable of displaying a warning indication, the warning indication being of different appearance to the or each directional indication.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 6 in which the warning indication appears to move and/or change in size.

8. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim which is configured to be capable of functioning as a visibility lamp, the luminosity of which is greater than that of the indication of direction.

9. An assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which the visibility lamp is disabled or dimmed during the display of the indication of direction.

10. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim in which the control arrangement is configured to be capable of controlling at least one further light emitting arrangement.

11. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim which comprises a display part which is provided with the light emitting arrangement which is adapted to be capable of being detachably mountable.

12. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim which is adapted to be detachably mountable to a push bike.

13. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim in which the control arrangement is configured to be capable of reducing the luminosity of at least one visibility lamp when the light emitting arrangement displays an indication of direction.

14. An assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. An assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1\

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows: 1. A light assembly comprising a light emitting arrangement and a control arrangement, the control arrangement being configured to cause the light emitting arrangement to display an indication of direction which appears to move in the indicated direction and change in size.

6. An assembly as claimed in preceding claims 3, 4 or 5 which is configured to be capable of displaying a warning indication, the warning :. indication being of different appearance to the or each directional * 20 indication.