Instrument for measuring the speed and fuel consumption of motor vehicles
First Claim
1. An instrument for continuously indicating the instantaneous rate of fuel consumption during operation of a motor vehicle equipped with a speedometer and with a flowmeter traversed by fuel fed to the motor,comprising:
- a stationary speed scale logarithmically graduated with first markings representing distance per hour;
a movable consumption scale logarithmically graduated with second markings representing units of fuel per predetermined distance, said consumption scale being disposed on a carrier operatively coupled with said flowmeter; and
a pointer driven by said speedometer for simultaneously sweeping said speed scale with increasing speed in a direction of increasing markings of said speed scale and decreasing markings of said consumption scale, said consumption scale advancing codirectionally with said pointer upon a rise in speed accompanied by an increased fuel flow, said speedometer being provided with a logarithmically calibrated restoring spring.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An instrument for continuously indicating the instantaneous rate of fuel consumption (e.g. in terms of liters per 100 kilometers) during operation of a motor vehicle comprises a stationary speed scale juxtaposed with a movable consumption scale, the two scales carrying relatively inverted logarithmic graduations and being swept by a common pointer driven through a gear train from a speedometer biased by a spring of logarithmic characteristic. The movable scale is magnetically entrained, via a friction coupling, by a flowmeter which is thermostatically controlled to take changes in fuel viscosity due to temperature variations into account; the friction coupling can be manually preadjusted in accordance with the specific weight of the fuel. The pointer and the movable scale are carried by two coaxial disks that coact through a differential coupling with a switch which energizes different signal lamps according to whether, at a given speed, the rate of fuel consumption is normal, subnormal or excessive.
7 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An instrument for continuously indicating the instantaneous rate of fuel consumption during operation of a motor vehicle equipped with a speedometer and with a flowmeter traversed by fuel fed to the motor,
comprising: -
a stationary speed scale logarithmically graduated with first markings representing distance per hour; a movable consumption scale logarithmically graduated with second markings representing units of fuel per predetermined distance, said consumption scale being disposed on a carrier operatively coupled with said flowmeter; and a pointer driven by said speedometer for simultaneously sweeping said speed scale with increasing speed in a direction of increasing markings of said speed scale and decreasing markings of said consumption scale, said consumption scale advancing codirectionally with said pointer upon a rise in speed accompanied by an increased fuel flow, said speedometer being provided with a logarithmically calibrated restoring spring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An instrument for continuously indicating the instantaneous rate of fuel consumption during operation of a motor vehicle equipped with a speedometer and with a flowmeter traversed by fuel fed to the motor,
comprising: -
a stationary speed scale graduated with first markings representing distance per hour; a movable consumption scale graduated with second markings representing units of fuel per predetermined distance; a disk centered on an axis of said flowmeter for angular entrainment about said axis by being magnetically coupled with a mobile element of said flowmeter, said consumption scale being carried by said disk; a gear coaxial with said disk positively coupled with an output shaft of said speedometer; a pointer supported by said gear for simultaneously sweeping said speed scale and said consumption scale; first bearing means supporting said disk on said flowmeter with freedom of limited relative rotation; and second bearing means supporting said gear on said first bearing means with freedom of limited relative rotation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification