Early warning brake light system
First Claim
1. A method of operating a warning signal indicative or reasonably indicative of a vehicle about to be braked or severely decelerated, said method comprising:
- (I) generating an electrical signal indicative of a rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle;
(II) generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal");
(III) comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not;
(IV) if the comparison of step (III) provides no determination of there being a likely panic stop, in a circuit receiving said foot pressure signal and said speed signal,(a) comparing negative values of foot pressure signal against an alternative threshold level to provide a determination of whether severe braking is likely to occur (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop)and(b) optionally, determining the vehicle is travelling in excess of a speed thresholdand(c) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of acceleration of the vehicle (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such values as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely the result of foot movement associated with a gear changeand(d) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of positive foot pressure signals (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such signals as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely bounce-induced as the result of such immediately preceding positive foot pressure signals, and(V) providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning signal whenever there is either;
(a) determination by step (III) of there likely being a panic stop or(b) there is a determination by step (IV) by satisfying condition (a) and any one or more of optional conditions (b), (c) and (d) of there likely being severe braking (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop).
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for the monitoring of the accelerator pedal in order to provide an early warning braking system and/or method therefor. The apparatus uses a detection mechanism to generate a signal representative of the pressure or force applied to the accelerator of the vehicle and utilizes a monitoring mechanism to monitor the signals provided by the detection mechanism. Also present are comparison and calculation devices to compare the monitored signals from the monitoring mechanism and to calculate the rate of change of pressure or force applied to the accelerator. There is a second comparison device to compare the rate of change in pressure or force on the accelerator with a pre-set limit signalling device operatively connected to the comparison device such that the signalling device is activated when the rate of change of pressure or force applied to the accelerator is above or alternatively below the pre-set limit. A variety of other comparisons are provided including at least one to filter out the effects of gear changes.
64 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of operating a warning signal indicative or reasonably indicative of a vehicle about to be braked or severely decelerated, said method comprising:
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(I) generating an electrical signal indicative of a rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (II) generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (III) comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (IV) if the comparison of step (III) provides no determination of there being a likely panic stop, in a circuit receiving said foot pressure signal and said speed signal, (a) comparing negative values of foot pressure signal against an alternative threshold level to provide a determination of whether severe braking is likely to occur (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop) and (b) optionally, determining the vehicle is travelling in excess of a speed threshold and (c) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of acceleration of the vehicle (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such values as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely the result of foot movement associated with a gear change and (d) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of positive foot pressure signals (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such signals as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely bounce-induced as the result of such immediately preceding positive foot pressure signals, and (V) providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning signal whenever there is either; (a) determination by step (III) of there likely being a panic stop or (b) there is a determination by step (IV) by satisfying condition (a) and any one or more of optional conditions (b), (c) and (d) of there likely being severe braking (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for performing a method of operating a warning signal indicative or reasonably indicative of a vehicle about to be braked or severely decelerated, said method comprising:
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(I) generating an electrical signal indicative of a rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (II) generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (III) comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (IV) if the comparison of step (III) provides no determination of there being a likely panic stop, in a circuit receiving said foot pressure signal and said speed signal, (a) comparing negative values of foot pressure signal against an alternative threshold level to provide a determination of whether severe braking is likely to occur (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop) and (b) optionally, determining the vehicle is travelling in excess of a speed threshold and (c) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of acceleration of the vehicle (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such values as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely the result of foot movements associated with a gear change and (d) optionally, determining immediately preceding values of positive foot pressure signals (determined over a preceding period) are below a threshold for such signals as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely bounce-induced as the result of such immediately preceding positive foot pressure signals, and (V) providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning signal whenever there is either; (a) determination by step (III) of there likely being a panic stop or (b) there is a determination by step (IV) by satisfying condition (a) and any one or more of optional conditions (b), (c) and (d) of there likely being severe braking (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop), said apparatus comprising; (i) means to generate an electrical signal indicative of the rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (ii) means to provide an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (iii) means to provide a monitoring circuit to receive said foot pressure signal and to compare negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (iv) means to receive said foot pressure signals and said speed signals at least if the comparison of step (III) of the method provides no determination of there being a likely panic stop; and (a) to compare negative values of foot pressure signal against an alternative threshold level to provide a determination of whether severe braking is likely to occur (but less severe as to be indicative of a panic stop); and (b) optionally to determine the vehicle as travelling in excess of a speed threshold; and (c) optionally to determine immediately preceding values of acceleration of the vehicle (determined over a period) are below a threshold for such values as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely the result of foot movements associated with a gear change; and (d) optionally to determine immediately preceding values of positive foot pressure signals (determined over a preceding period--whether the same or different to that of (IV)(c)) are below a threshold for such signals as would indicate that negative foot pressure signals are likely bounce-induced as a result of such immediately preceding positive foot pressure signals; and (v) means providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of a warning signal whenever there is either (a) determination by step (III) of the method that there is likely being a panic stop or (b) there is a determination by step (IV) of the method by satisfying condition (a) and at least one or more of the optional conditions (b), (c) and (d) of the method of there likely being severe braking (but less severe as to be indicative of a brake panic stop). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a warning signal indicative or reasonably indicative of a vehicle about to be braked or severely decelerated, said method comprising:
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(i) generating with a piezoelectric transducer an electrical signal indicative of a rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (ii) optionally generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (iii) (a) comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (b) optionally comparing in a monitoring circuit receiving said speed signal, values of said speed signal to determine whether said vehicle is travelling in excess of a speed threshold; (iv) if the comparison is step (iii) provides a determination of there being a likely panic stop providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning signal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. Apparatus for performing a method of operating a warning signal indicative or reasonably indicative of a vehicle about to be braked or severely decelerated, said method comprising:
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(i) generating with a piezoelectric transducer an electrical signal indicative of a rate of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (ii) generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (iii) comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (iv) if the comparison of step (iii) provides a determination of there being a likely panic stop providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning signal, said apparatus comprising; (i) means for generating with a piezoelectric transducer an electrical signal indicative of the range of change in the pressure or force (hereafter "foot pressure signal") being applied to the accelerator of the vehicle; (ii) means for generating an electrical signal indicative of the speed of the vehicle (hereafter "speed signal"); (iii) means for comparing, in a monitoring circuit receiving said foot pressure signal, negative values (ie. those of a rate of decrease of pressure) of said foot pressure signal against a threshold level to provide a determination of whether or not there is likely to be a panic stop or not; (iv) means which if the comparison in the monitoring circuit provides a determination of there being a likely panic stop providing at least for a brief period of time an electrical current actuation of said warning device. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification