Auxiliary brake light control system
First Claim
1. An improved brake light control system for use in a motor vehicle equipped with either a standard or an automatic transmission, at least one shaft which rotates at a speed proportional to the speed of the motor vehicle, a brake system, a brake pedal responsive to the manual application of pressure thereto for operating said brake system, a pair of brake lights including a left and a right brake light, a pressure-sensitive switching means responsive to said manual application of pressure to said brake pedal for activating said brake lights and to the termination of said manual application of pressure on said brake pedal for deactivating said brake lights, the improvement comprising an auxiliary brake light control system comprising:
- sensing means responsive to the rotation of said at least one shaft for generating a first signal in response to the rotation of said shaft at a speed above a predetermined speed and for generating a second signal in response to the rotation of said at least one shaft at a speed below said predetermined speed; and
brake light control means responsive to said first signal for maintaining said brake lights off unless pressure has been a manual application of pressure to said brake pedal and responsive to said second signal for turning said brake lights on even if said manual application of pressure has ceased to be applied to said brake pedal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to an auxiliary brake light control system which has its primary application in motor vehicles equipped with standard transmissions. In such vehicles, the brake lights are normally illuminated by means of a pressure switch associated with the brake pedal whenever pressure is manually-applied to the brake pedal by the driver. However, as the car slows toward a stop, or after it has actually stopped the driver normally releases his foot from the brake pedal and moves his left foot over to the clutch and his right foot over to the gas pedal thereby turning off the brake light to falsely indicate to those following that the car is not stopped. However, since the car is actually cruising at a very low speed or stopped, severe safety hazards may result. The present invention provides an auxiliary brake light control system which senses the motion of the motor vehicle by means of magnets attached to a rotating shaft whose speed of rotation is proportional to the speed of the motor vehicle to generate a first signal when the speed of the motor vehicle is faster than a predetermined speed and a second signal when it is moving slower than the predetermined speed. A relay coil is normally energized in response to the first signal to keep the brake lights off unless the operator applies pressure to the brake pedal, but for switching the relay coil to a de-energized state whenever the speed falls below a predetermined value for turning on the brake lights even if the operator removes his foot from the brake pedal. The detected signal from the rotating shaft is amplified, smoothed to a DC level, and applied to a comparator whose output controls a transistor switch to maintain the relay coil energized or de-energized, as desired. A DPDT switch is responsive to the state of the relay coil for supplying 12 volt battery potential to the brake lights when the relay coil is de-energized.
24 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An improved brake light control system for use in a motor vehicle equipped with either a standard or an automatic transmission, at least one shaft which rotates at a speed proportional to the speed of the motor vehicle, a brake system, a brake pedal responsive to the manual application of pressure thereto for operating said brake system, a pair of brake lights including a left and a right brake light, a pressure-sensitive switching means responsive to said manual application of pressure to said brake pedal for activating said brake lights and to the termination of said manual application of pressure on said brake pedal for deactivating said brake lights, the improvement comprising an auxiliary brake light control system comprising:
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sensing means responsive to the rotation of said at least one shaft for generating a first signal in response to the rotation of said shaft at a speed above a predetermined speed and for generating a second signal in response to the rotation of said at least one shaft at a speed below said predetermined speed; and brake light control means responsive to said first signal for maintaining said brake lights off unless pressure has been a manual application of pressure to said brake pedal and responsive to said second signal for turning said brake lights on even if said manual application of pressure has ceased to be applied to said brake pedal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A brake light control system for use in a motor vehicle having a brake system, a brake pedal responsive to the manual application of pressure thereto for operating said brake system, and at least one rotatable shaft whose speed of rotation is substantially proportional to the speed of said motor vehicle, said brake light control system comprising, in combination:
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brake lights including a left brake light and a right brake light; a pressure-detecting switch means connected to said brake pedal and responsive to said manual application of pressure to said brake pedal for turning on said brake lights, said pressure-detecting switch means being further responsive to the termination of said manual application of pressure from said brake pedal for normally turning off said brake lights; and an auxiliary brake light control system including brake light control means for turning on said brake lights in response to the speed of rotation of said at least one shaft being less than a predetermined speed even when said manual application of pressure has been removed from said brake pedal to indicate that said motor vehicle is substantially stopped even though the driver'"'"'s foot has been removed from said brake pedal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An auxiliary brake control system for use in a motor vehicle equipped with a standard transmission, a brake pedal, brake lights, a pressure-responsive switch responsive to the application of manually-applied pressure to said brake pedal for actuating said brake lights and responsive to the removal of manually-applied pressure from said brake pedal for deactuating said brake lights, and a shaft whose speed of rotation is substantially proportional to the speed of said motor vehicle, said auxiliary brake light control system comprising:
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1st means mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith; sensing means for detecting the rotation of said 1st means for generating a first signal in response to the rotational speed thereof being grater than a predetermined value and for generating a second signal in response to the rotational speed thereof being less than said predetermined value; 2nd means for amplifying at least said first signal and generating an amplified first signal in response thereto; 3rd means for integrating said amplified first signal for producing a substantially DC value signal equivalent thereto; comparator means having a positive input, a negative input and a comparator output; 4th means for establishing a reference voltage at the negative input of said comparator means; 5th means for supplying said DC value indicative of said amplified first signal and a DC value indicative of said second signal to the positive input of said comparator; said comparator output generating a first signal in response to the DC equivalent of said amplified first comparator output signal at said positive input thereof and for generating a second comparator output signal at the output of said comparator means in response to the DC equivalent of the amplified second signal being supplied thereto; a relay coil having an energized state and a de-energized state; 6th means responsive to said first comparator output signal from the output of said comparator means for normally energizing said relay coil and being further responsive to said second comparator output signal at the output of said comparator means for switching said relay coil to said de-energized state; and relay-operated switching means responsive to said relay coil being in said normally energized state for maintaining said brake lights off unless pressure is being manually-applied to said brake pedal, and being responsive to said relay coil being switched to said de-energized state for activating said brake lights even if said manually-applied pressure has been removed from said brake pedal to indicate to following vehicles that the motor vehicle is stopped even though the driver'"'"'s foot may be removed from the brake pedal. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. An improved brake light control system for a motor vehicle having at least one shaft which rotates at a speed proportional to the actual speed of the motor vehicle, a set of brake lights operably mounted on the rear of the motor vehicle, a brake system, and a brake pedal responsive to the manual application of pressure thereto for operating said brake system, said improved brake light control system comprising, in combination:
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(1) a primary brake light control system including a pressure-sensitive switching means connected to said brake pedal and responsive to said manual application of pressure to said brake pedal for activating said set of brake lights and being further responsive to the removal of said manual application of pressure from said brake pedal for deactivating said set of brake lights; and
further comprising(2) an auxiliary brake light control system including means responsive to the rotation of said at least one shaft for generating a first signal when said shaft is rotating at a speed above a given predetermined speed and for generating a second different and distinct signal when said shaft is at least one of rotating at a speed below said given predetermined speed and stopped; and circuit means responsive to the generation of said first signal for maintaining said set of brake lights deactivated and off unless said manual application of pressure has been exterted on said brake pedal, and being further responsive to the generation of said second signal for activating and turning on said set of brake lights even if said manual application of pressure has been removed from said brake pedal.
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Specification