Large truck remote wheel trouble warning system

• US 4,943,798 A
• Filed: 08/26/1989
• Issued: 07/24/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wayman Wayne
• Original Assignee: Wayman Wayne
• Inventors: Wayne, Wayman
• Primary Examiner(s): Orsino, Joseph A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tumm, Brian R.
• Application Number:
  US07/398,776
• Time in Patent Office: 332 Days
• Field of Search: 340/442, 340/443, 340/445, 340/446, 340/438, 340/425.5, 340/459, 116/34 R, 381/169, 381/188, 381/205
• US Class Current: 340/443
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0469 Transmission by sound, e.g. ultra-sound
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/004 Mounting transducers, e.g. provided with mechanical moving or orienting device mountings specially adapted to a particular sound-producing device, see the preceding groups G10K1/00 - G10K9/00, e.g. G10K1/26, G10K1/28, G10K9/22; arrangements of sonic watch equipment on submarines B63G8/39; buoys B63B22/00

Abstract

A safety system for large and long over-the-road vehicles, such as a tractor semitrailer rig, having wheels mounted remotely from the vehicle'"'"'s cab. A conventional airborne sound receiving microphone is mounted within a mechanical vibration damping housing at the bottom of the vehicle body near and aimed at the remote wheels to receive sounds from that area of the vehicle. The mounting and housing are constructed to prevent or greatly lessen mechanical vibration and sounds from reaching the microphone through the vehicle body. A communication cable runs from the microphone and housing to the cab and is connected through an amplifier to a speaker provided inside the cab. While the vehicle is being driven, the speaker reproduces a significant portion of the airborne sound received by the microphone within the cab. The system produces as background noise in the cab the sounds from the rear wheel area of the vehicle and allows the driver to note and react to changes in such noise as may result from a flat tire or other problem.

Claims

1. In a tractor semitrailer rig having a closed cab from which a driver may operate the rig and at least one trailer, which trailer has an underside and wheels monunted at the underside of that trailer, at least some of which wheels are mounted remote from the cab and on opposite sides of the trailer, the improvement comprising:

only one conventional sound sensitive microphone for picking up airborne sound waves in the range of human hearing;

mounting means for said microphone for mounting it to the underside of the trailer at only one location and in such a manner so as to allow said microphone to be able to pick up sound carried by the air from the remote wheels of the trailer from either opposite side of the trailer and from other equipment mounted to the trailer in the vicinity of the remote wheels, said mounting means including means for substantially damping out mechanical vibrations received from said trailer;

communication means connected to said microphone and secured to said trailer, said communication means serving to connect signals developed by said microphone to said cab; and

means mounted inside the enclosed cab for receiving signals from said communication means, and responsive to those signals received from said communication means for alerting the driver to unusual airborne sounds picked up by said microphone, and wherein said alerting means mounted inside the enclosed cab includes a conventional speaker for substantially reproducing the airborne sound waves within the range of human hearing which are picked up by said microphone mounted to the underside of the trailer.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said communication means comprises cable means for establishing direct electrical connection between said microphone and said alerting means within said cab, and said cable means including a flexible length bridging between said cab and said trailer.

3. In a large vehicle having a closed cab, a trailer with an underside and at least one set of wheels mounted on the underside of the vehicle remote from the cab by a distance such as to make the hearing of abnormal noises in or about said wheels by a person in the cab difficult or impossible, such set of remote wheels including at least one wheel on either siide of the trailer, the improvement comprising;

only one conventional sound sensitive microphone for picking up airborne sound waves in the range of human hearing;

means for mounting said microphone at the underside of the vehicle at only one location and in such a manner so as to be able to pick up sound carried by the air from the remote wheels, including the remote wheels on either side of the trailer, said mounting means including means for substantially damping out mechanical vibrations received from the vehicle, and said mounting means being aligned along the approximate center line of the vehicle and about eight to twelve feet forward of the remote wheels;

communication means connected to said microphone, said communication means being secured so as to serve to communicate signals developed by said microphone to said cab;

means mounted inside the enclosed cab for receiving signals from said communication means, and responsive to those signals received from said communication means for alerting the driver to unusual airborne sounds picked up by said microphone; and

wherein said alerting means mounted inside the enclosed cab includes a conventional speaker for substantially reproducing the airborne sound waves within the range of human hearing which are picked up by said microphone.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said communication means comprises cable means for establishing direct electrical connection between said microphone and said alerting means within said cab, and said cable means including a flexible length bridging between said cab and said trailer.