Vehicle performance monitor and method
First Claim
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1. A vehicle performance measuring and indicating apparatus comprising in combination:
- first means for sensing variations in acceleration of a motor vehicle as it travels and generating output electrical signals which vary in accordance with variations in the accelerations sensed thereby,second means for sensing variations in the direction of travel of said vehicle and generating output electrical signals which vary in accordance with variations in the direction travelled by said vehicle,third means for generating time indicating signals, andfourth means operable to control said first and second means to cause said first and second means to respectively sense vehicle acceleration and the direction of travel of said vehicle at select time intervals and to generate respective electrical signals along with said time indicating signals generated by said third means at select time intervals,fifth means including a memory for simultaneously recording each of the groups of signals generated by said first, second and third means at said select time intervals,sixth means for reproducing from said memory the information defined by the operation of said first, second and third means as groups of electrical signals and seventh means for analyzing said groups of electrical signals,said seventh means including electronic computing means for determining how a vehicle containing said first, second and third means has been operated.
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Abstract
A vehicle performance monitor system employing one or more accelerometers operative to generate output signals of acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle as the vehicle operates, wherein such signals are electronically processed and either immediately analyzed by a computer prior to monitoring or recording same or are recorded and later analyzed by an onboard computer or a remote computer which communicates with a memory forming part of the system and located in the vehicle by pluggable lines or short wave communication.
151 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A vehicle performance measuring and indicating apparatus comprising in combination:
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first means for sensing variations in acceleration of a motor vehicle as it travels and generating output electrical signals which vary in accordance with variations in the accelerations sensed thereby, second means for sensing variations in the direction of travel of said vehicle and generating output electrical signals which vary in accordance with variations in the direction travelled by said vehicle, third means for generating time indicating signals, and fourth means operable to control said first and second means to cause said first and second means to respectively sense vehicle acceleration and the direction of travel of said vehicle at select time intervals and to generate respective electrical signals along with said time indicating signals generated by said third means at select time intervals, fifth means including a memory for simultaneously recording each of the groups of signals generated by said first, second and third means at said select time intervals, sixth means for reproducing from said memory the information defined by the operation of said first, second and third means as groups of electrical signals and seventh means for analyzing said groups of electrical signals, said seventh means including electronic computing means for determining how a vehicle containing said first, second and third means has been operated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of monitoring the operation of a motor vehicle comprising:
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disposing an acceleration sensing means in a motor vehicle, periodically energizing said acceleration sensing means as said motor vehicle operates to cause it to sense variations in acceleration of said vehicle as it travels and to periodically generate output electrical signals, generating different code signals indicative of time each time said acceleration sensing means is periodically energized and transmitting said code signals along with respective of said analog signals generated by said acceleration sensing means, receiving said analog signals and said code signals and computer processing said analog signals and generating digital signals indicative of variations in the acceleration of said vehicle during its travel and the times at which said variations occurred, recording said digital and code signals in a memory in the order they are generated and, when it is desired to indicate the performance of said vehicle, selectively reproducing the signals recorded in said memory and computer analyzing same and generating control signals, and applying said control signals to control the operation of an intelligible indicating means for indicating the manner in which said motor vehicle was operated during a select period of time. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A vehicle performance measuring and indicating system comprising in combination:
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first means for sensing variations in the acceleration of a motor vehicle as it travels and generating output electrical signals which vary in accordance with variations in the acceleration sensed, said first means being supported by said vehicle, second means for generating code signals identifying said motor vehicle, third means for generating time indicating signals, fourth means including a memory supported by said vehicle and operable for simultaneously recording the information defined by the signals generated by said first, second and third means, fifth means for querying said memory and generating information signals defined by the signals which are generated by said first, second and third means and analyzing same, sixth means including an electronic computing means for receiving said information signals, processing and analyzing same and generating code signals indicative of the manner in which the vehicle supporting said first means has been operated and seventh means communicating with said sixth means and operable in response to code signals generated thereby to intelligibly indicate how said motor vehicle has been operated. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification