HEADS-UP SPEED DISPLAY FOR VEHICLES

• US 20080157952A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David Gallant, Randy Oliver
• Original Assignee: David Gallant, Randy Oliver
• Inventors: Gallant, David, Oliver, Randy
• Granted Patent: US 7,598,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/441
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/188 Displaying information using colour changes
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/12 Motorcycles, Trikes; Quads; Scooters
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 50/22 electronic, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/04 Special adaptations of driving means
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 1/08 Arrangements of scales, pointers, lamps or acoustic indicators, e.g. in automobile speedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0141 characterised by the informative content of the display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted

Abstract

A heads-up speed sensing display and control system for apprising an operator of the risk of operating a vehicle at various speeds has a risk indicator display with a plurality of illuminable elements, such as three different colored LEDs, illuminable in a plurality of patterns, each of the plurality of patterns having a predetermined correlation to vehicle speed, such as green for safe, yellow for caution and red for hazardous. A speed sensor, such as a Hall-effect device is coupled to a driven element of the vehicle, like a speedometer cable, and causes the speed sensor to generate a signal indicative of vehicle speed. A control unit receives the speed signal and selects an illumination pattern to indicate the risk of operation at the speed the vehicle is then traveling. The display may be wired or wireless and be attached to a windshield, face guard or helmet. The display system may be customizable to the operator and the environmental conditions and may be coordinated with a signage system using the same risk indicator conventions. The indicator system may also be used as a governor. In yet another embodiment, GPS data is used in a lookup table to ascertain the speed limit for the operation of the vehicle at any given time and place. The speed limit information is used to inform a governor which reduces vehicle speed to the ascertained limit. The ascertained speed limit may be used to select a risk indicator pattern for the actual operating speed of the device.

Claims

1. A visual indicator for apprising an operator of a vehicle of the level of risk associated with operating the vehicle at a plurality of different speeds, comprising:

a plurality of illuminable elements illuminable in a plurality of patterns, said patterns having a predetermined correlation to safety of operation at a given vehicle speed, said visual indicator receiving a signal indicative of vehicle speed and displaying one of said plurality of illuminable patterns in response to the signal, said visual indicator positionable proximate to the operator'"'"'s line of sight while the operator is operating the vehicle and being visible to the operator when the operator is looking at a spatial position towards which the vehicle is traveling.

2. The visual indicator of claim 1, wherein said visual indicator includes a speed sensor coupled to a driven element of the vehicle, said speed sensor sensing upon the motion of said driven element and generating said signal indicative of vehicle speed.

3. The visual indicator of claim 2, wherein said visual indicator includes a control circuit that receives said signal indicative of vehicle speed, selects an illumination pattern from said plurality of illumination patterns based upon said signal indicative of vehicle speed and outputs an illumination signal for illuminating said plurality of illuminable elements in one of said plurality of illuminable patterns to indicate the degree of safety of operation of the vehicle at the present speed.

8. The visual indicator of claim 2, wherein said driven element is a speedometer cable on the vehicle.

9. The visual indicator of claim 2, wherein said speed sensor is a Hall effect device and said output signal indicative of speed is a plurality of pulses generated by the Hall effect device over a selected sampling period.

10. The visual indicator of claim 9, wherein said visual indicator is retrofittable to an existing vehicle, said speed sensor inserting between an end of a stock vehicle speedometer cable and an input of a stock speedometer and having a shaft for conducting the motion of the speedometer cable to the stock speedometer to preserve the operation of the speedometer.

11. The visual indicator of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of illuminable elements have a color, at least two of said plurality are different colors and said plurality of patterns includes pattern with at least one illuminable element not illuminated.

12. The visual indicator of claim 11, wherein said illuminable elements are light emitting diodes (LEDs).

13. The visual indicator of claim 1, wherein said visual indicator is attachable to a windscreen.

14. The visual indicator of claim 1, further including a photoreactive circuit element for controlling the brightness of said illuminable elements depending upon ambient lighting conditions, the brightness being less for dimly lit ambient conditions and brighter for bright ambient conditions.

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15. A speed sensing display and control system for apprising an operator of the risk of operating a vehicle at various speeds, comprising:

a risk indicator display with a plurality of illuminable elements illuminable in a plurality of patterns, each of said plurality of patterns having a predetermined correlation to vehicle speed;

a speed sensor coupled to a driven element of the vehicle, said speed sensor sensing upon the motion of said driven element and generating a signal indicative of vehicle speed; and

a control unit that receives said signal indicative of vehicle speed, selects an illumination pattern from said plurality of illumination patterns based upon said signal indicative of vehicle speed and outputs an illumination signal for illuminating said plurality of illuminable elements in one of said plurality of illuminable patterns to indicate risk of operation at the speed then applicable to the operator, said risk indicator display positionable proximate to the operator'"'"'s line of sight while the operator is operating the vehicle and being visible to the operator when the operator is looking at a spatial position towards which the vehicle is traveling.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said plurality of patterns are implemented by at least one of extinguishing an element of one color and illuminating an element of another color to indicate a change in risk associated with a change in speed, successively illuminating additional elements to indicate a change in risk, and flashing at least one element to indicate that the vehicle has attained a particular level of risk associated with operation of the vehicle at a given speed.

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