Trip computer for vehicles

• US 4,564,905 A
• Filed: 06/17/1983
• Issued: 01/14/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Masuda, Mitsuhiro, Naito, Shotaro, Watanabe, Shizuhisa, Tokuyama, Keiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US06/505,440
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424, 364/442, 364/444, 364/561, 364/565, 73/113, 73/114, 377/21, 377/24, 340/994
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/008 where the other variable is the flight or running time
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/023 with electric, electro-mechanic or electronic means

Abstract

A vehicle trip computer for detecting the distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank and computing and displaying the capable travel distance of the vehicle through the desired computational operations in accordance with the detected data. During the initial period following the connection of the trip computer to the power source, the capable travel distance of the vehicle is computed by using a predetermined initial gas mileage in place of the computed gas mileage. Also, the trip computer does not replace the initial gas mileage with the computed actual gas mileage until the distance traveled by the vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance.

Claims

1. A trip computer for a vehicle comprising:

first means responsive to a vehicle speed sensor for sensing the speed of the vehicle so as to detect the distance traveled by said vehicle per unit time;

second means for sensing the residual amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank of the vehicle; and

a microcomputer responsive to said first means and said second means for computing the rate of fuel consumption of the vehicle as well as the distance which the vehicle is capable of traveling with said remaining fuel, including means for detecting when the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance after the connection of said microcomputer to a power source, means for storing a predetermined value of rate of fuel consumption, and means for computing the distance which the vehicle is capable of traveling on the basis of said stored predetermined value of rate of fuel consumption until said vehicle has traveled said predetermined distance after the connection of said microcomputer to a power source and for computing said distance thereafter on the basis of the computed value of rate of fuel consumption.

2. A trip computer for displaying a possible travel distance of a vehicle on the basis of residual fuel quantity comprising:

a vehicle speed sensor for sensing the speed of a vehicle;

a residual fuel sensor for sensing the residual amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank of a vehicle;

display means responsive to a display signal for displaying a possible travel distance of said vehicle;

a microcomputer system for receiving output signals from said sensors to generate said display signal for causing said display means to display the possible travel distance of said vehicle based on said sensed residual amount of fuel; and

a power supply sensor for generating an output signal upon sensing the connection of a power source to said microcomputer;

said microcomputer system including;

a read only memory (ROM) for storing a control program;

a random access memory (RAM) for temporarily storing necessary data;

a central processing unit (CPU) for using the data stored in said RAM to perform computational operations in accordance with said control program stored in said ROM; and

an input/output unit (I/O) electrically connected to said sensors for inputting the output signals from said sensors as converted data signals to said CPU and generating said display signal in accordance with an output signal from said CPU,

whereby said microcomputer system computes the possible travel distance of said vehicle by the steps of;

setting a predetermined initial gas mileage in said RAM in response to the output signal from said power supply sensor at the time of connection of said power source to said microcomputer system;

counting speed pulses from said vehicle speed sensor for computing a distance traveled by said vehicle and storing said computed distance in said RAM;

computing said possible travel distance in accordance with said gas mileage stored in said RAM and the output signal from said residual fuel sensor;

computing an amount of fuel consumed from the output of said residual fuel sensor; and

computing the gas mileage of said vehicle from said computed traveled distance and consumed fuel amount and replacing said set initial gas mileage in said RAM with said computed gas mileage only on the condition that said computed traveled distance exceeds a predetermined value.

3. A trip computer according to claim 2, wherein said microcomputer system computes said gas mileage at intervals of a predetermined period of time so as to successively replace the value of gas mileage stored in said RAM.