Vehicle lane guide and alerting device
First Claim
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1. A vehicle lane guide and alerting device for monitoring a position of a vehicle on a delimited lane of a roadway and providing an alarm when the vehicle moves out of that lane comprising, in combination:
- a vehicle roadway having at least one lane delimited by light-reflective lane markers and with the markers having a higher reflectivity than the roadway itself;
a vehicle positionable upon the roadway and having a path of travel on the lane;
a pair of transceivers each coupled to the front end of the vehicle and each comprising;
a rigid box-shaped plastic housing,photo sensor means including a cadmium sulfide photo detector and level resistor coupled to a front end of the vehicle for capturing light that is reflected from the roadway, wherein the photo sensor means is directional so as to not be triggered by lines crossing the road perpendicular to vehicle travel,manually adjustable differentiator means coupled to the photo sensor means for discriminating and amplifying a sharp change in the reflected light above a user-selected level when the vehicle crosses the lane markers on the roadway, the differentiator means comprising an operational amplifier, a direct current blocking capacitor, a level resistor, and a manually adjustable potentiometer situated on a dash of the vehicle,buffer means coupled to the differentiator means for registering the change in the reflected light, the buffer means comprising a D-flip flop with an associated resistive and capacitative support network, whereby the D-flip flop delivers a high level voltage from a D-terminal thereof to a Q-terminal thereof thus utilizing the D-flip flop as a buffer which takes the output of the differentiator mechanism and uses it as a trigger pulse to force the output to a high level when the vehicle crosses the lane markers,speaker means coupled to the buffer means for providing an audible alert indication once the change in the reflected light is registered to thereby indicate that the vehicle is moving out of the lane, the speaker means comprising of a conventional speaker and a transistor,illumination means coupled to the front end of the vehicle and actuatable by a user under conditions of decreased visibility for transmitting light toward the roadway and thus creating reflected light for capture by the photo sensor means, the illumination means comprising of an electric socket, wires, an incandescent bulb secured in the socket, and a parabolic reflector,a colored transparent illuminator cover for providing visual safe guard effect, andswitch-controlled power source means coupled to the photo sensor means, the differentiator means, the buffer means, the speaker means, and the illumination means for providing electrical energy for operation.
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Abstract
A vehicle lane guide and alerting device securable to a vehicle for monitoring a position of the vehicle on a lane of a roadway delimited by light-reflective lane markers wherein the markers have a different reflectivity than the roadway itself, the vehicle lane guide and alerting device including a photo sensor mechanism coupled to a front end of the vehicle for capturing light that is reflected from the roadway; a differentiator mechanism coupled to the photo sensor mechanism for discriminating a sharp change in the reflected light above a given level when the vehicle crosses the lane markers on the roadway; a buffer mechanism coupled to the differentiator mechanism for registering the change in the reflected light; and an alarm mechanism coupled to the buffer mechanism for providing an alarm indication once the change in the reflected light is registered to thereby indicate that the vehicle is moving out of the lane.
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Citations
1 Claim
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1. A vehicle lane guide and alerting device for monitoring a position of a vehicle on a delimited lane of a roadway and providing an alarm when the vehicle moves out of that lane comprising, in combination:
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a vehicle roadway having at least one lane delimited by light-reflective lane markers and with the markers having a higher reflectivity than the roadway itself; a vehicle positionable upon the roadway and having a path of travel on the lane; a pair of transceivers each coupled to the front end of the vehicle and each comprising; a rigid box-shaped plastic housing, photo sensor means including a cadmium sulfide photo detector and level resistor coupled to a front end of the vehicle for capturing light that is reflected from the roadway, wherein the photo sensor means is directional so as to not be triggered by lines crossing the road perpendicular to vehicle travel, manually adjustable differentiator means coupled to the photo sensor means for discriminating and amplifying a sharp change in the reflected light above a user-selected level when the vehicle crosses the lane markers on the roadway, the differentiator means comprising an operational amplifier, a direct current blocking capacitor, a level resistor, and a manually adjustable potentiometer situated on a dash of the vehicle, buffer means coupled to the differentiator means for registering the change in the reflected light, the buffer means comprising a D-flip flop with an associated resistive and capacitative support network, whereby the D-flip flop delivers a high level voltage from a D-terminal thereof to a Q-terminal thereof thus utilizing the D-flip flop as a buffer which takes the output of the differentiator mechanism and uses it as a trigger pulse to force the output to a high level when the vehicle crosses the lane markers, speaker means coupled to the buffer means for providing an audible alert indication once the change in the reflected light is registered to thereby indicate that the vehicle is moving out of the lane, the speaker means comprising of a conventional speaker and a transistor, illumination means coupled to the front end of the vehicle and actuatable by a user under conditions of decreased visibility for transmitting light toward the roadway and thus creating reflected light for capture by the photo sensor means, the illumination means comprising of an electric socket, wires, an incandescent bulb secured in the socket, and a parabolic reflector, a colored transparent illuminator cover for providing visual safe guard effect, and switch-controlled power source means coupled to the photo sensor means, the differentiator means, the buffer means, the speaker means, and the illumination means for providing electrical energy for operation.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeJian S. Liu
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Original AssigneeJian S. Liu
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InventorsLiu, Jian S.
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Primary Examiner(s)Hofsass, Jeffery
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Assistant Examiner(s)Pope, Daryl C.
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Application NumberUS08/533,711Time in Patent Office392 DaysField of Search340/905, 340/904, 340/901, 340/942, 340/438, 340/439, 250/239, 250/397US Class Current340/905CPC Class CodesG05D 1/0234 using optical markers or be...G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in com...
