Electronic turn signal cancellation apparatus
First Claim
1. An electronic turn signal cancellation apparatus comprising:
- a shaft rotatable about an axis and rotated in accordance with the rotation of a vehicle steering wheel;
first and second means fixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith, said first and second means positioned at ditferent relative angular positions about said shaft axis with respect to each other and axially spaced apart from each other;
first and second sensor means located separate from and about said shaft and positioned axially spaced apart from each other and at fixed angular positions with respect to said shaft axis;
said first sensor means associated with and positioned for sensing the rotation of said first means about said axis and providing a first sensor output signal in accordance therewith, said first output signal being unresponsive to the rotation of said second means, and said second sensor means being associated with and positioned for sensing the rotation of said second means about said axis and providing, in response thereto, a second sensor output signal independent of said first output signal, said second output signal being unresponsive to the rotation of said first means, each of said first and second output signals, respectively, related to the rotational positions of said first and second means about said axis; and
means for receiving said first and second output signals and providing separate right/left turn signal cancellation signals in accordance therewith.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic turn signal cancellation apparatus is disclosed which includes two separate rotational positions sensing elements, each sensing an associated identifying portion positioned on a shaft rotated in accordance with vehicle steering wheel rotation. An electronic turn signal cancellation circuit, which may be effectively implemented by a microprocessor, effectively analyzes the output signals of these sensors and determines the current angular shaft position and also the previous shaft position. Turn signal cancellation is implemented by determining current shaft position and the direction of rotation of the shaft. One embodiment implements turn signal cancellation without hysteresis, while a second embodiment utilizes similar structure to implement turn signal cancellation with hysteresis. In each case only two sensors are utilized which may be joined together to form a unitary sensor assembly.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. An electronic turn signal cancellation apparatus comprising:
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a shaft rotatable about an axis and rotated in accordance with the rotation of a vehicle steering wheel; first and second means fixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith, said first and second means positioned at ditferent relative angular positions about said shaft axis with respect to each other and axially spaced apart from each other; first and second sensor means located separate from and about said shaft and positioned axially spaced apart from each other and at fixed angular positions with respect to said shaft axis; said first sensor means associated with and positioned for sensing the rotation of said first means about said axis and providing a first sensor output signal in accordance therewith, said first output signal being unresponsive to the rotation of said second means, and said second sensor means being associated with and positioned for sensing the rotation of said second means about said axis and providing, in response thereto, a second sensor output signal independent of said first output signal, said second output signal being unresponsive to the rotation of said first means, each of said first and second output signals, respectively, related to the rotational positions of said first and second means about said axis; and means for receiving said first and second output signals and providing separate right/left turn signal cancellation signals in accordance therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification