Residual charge effect traffic sensor
First Claim
1. In a vehicle sensor adapted to be disposed on a roadway for monitoring traffic on at least one lane of the roadway comprising;
- a housing comprising a first elongated conductive member (150) containing an elongated cavity (152) which is adapted to receive a mounting bar (154);
wherein said mounting bar contains a first channel (156) to receive a sensor wire (160) which comprises a second elongated conductive member (160) surrounded by a first elongated dielectric (160b);
said vehicle sensor being characterized in that a second elongated dielectric (162) is provided within the cavity surrounding said sensor wire and at least one of said dielectrics (160b,
162) has a naturally occurring first residual charge adapted to gravitate toward an interface formed between a surface of one of the conductive members to thereby cause a static electric field to be generated, and at least one of said conductive members is disposed for movement in said electric field so as to cause a disturbance of said field and a signal pulse to be generated upon movement of said at least one of said conductive members in said static electric field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The naturally occurring residual charge of a dielectric is utilized to establish a static electric field adapted to be disturbed by a conductive member upon occurrence of an event, such as, for example, the passage of a vehicle tire over the conductive member. Disturbance of the electric field results in the generation of a pulse that can be monitored. A traffic sensor for monitoring the number and speed of vehicles traveling in multiple lanes of a roadway employing dielectrics with naturally occurring residual charge includes a housing containing a cavity, a conductive mounting bar adapted to fit within the cavity, at least two sensing elements including the dielectrics mounted on the mounting bar so as to generate a signal when impacted by a vehicle tire. A transmission cable connects with the sensing elements for transmitting the electric signals generated by the sensing elements to analyzing equipment for evaluating, displaying, and recording the data generated by the sensing elements. Signals are transmitted through every other wire of the transmission cable to minimize cross-talk between the signal carrying wires.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. In a vehicle sensor adapted to be disposed on a roadway for monitoring traffic on at least one lane of the roadway comprising;
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a housing comprising a first elongated conductive member (150) containing an elongated cavity (152) which is adapted to receive a mounting bar (154); wherein said mounting bar contains a first channel (156) to receive a sensor wire (160) which comprises a second elongated conductive member (160) surrounded by a first elongated dielectric (160b); said vehicle sensor being characterized in that a second elongated dielectric (162) is provided within the cavity surrounding said sensor wire and at least one of said dielectrics (160b,
162) has a naturally occurring first residual charge adapted to gravitate toward an interface formed between a surface of one of the conductive members to thereby cause a static electric field to be generated, and at least one of said conductive members is disposed for movement in said electric field so as to cause a disturbance of said field and a signal pulse to be generated upon movement of said at least one of said conductive members in said static electric field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification