Turn signal system and method with steering wheel mounted control of conventional and lane shift indications
First Claim
1. A turn signal system for a vehicle having a steering wheel, said system comprising:
- right signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right;
left signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the left;
control means for selectively supplying energy to said right and left signal means;
a right selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a second indication operation; and
a left selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means to perform a second indication operation.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle turn signal system (10), and an associated method, utilizes turn selectors (14, 16) located on a steering wheel (12). The system has right and left turn signal indicator circuits (34, 38) that are each energizable to indicate an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right or left, respectively. A micro-controller 20 controls the energization of the right and left turn indicator circuits (34, 38). Each of the right and left selectors (14, 16) is actuatable in a first manner for causing the micro-controller (20) to energize the respective indicator circuit (34 or 38) to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing the micro-controller to energize the respective indicator circuit (34 or 38) to perform a second indication operation. In one embodiment, the first manner of selector actuation is a relatively short duration actuation, and the second manner of selector is a relatively long duration actuation. Also, in one embodiment, the first indication operation is a timed duration indication for lane changing and the second indication operation is conventional turn indication (e.g., indication until cancelled).
40 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A turn signal system for a vehicle having a steering wheel, said system comprising:
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right signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right; left signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the left; control means for selectively supplying energy to said right and left signal means; a right selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a second indication operation; and a left selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means to perform a second indication operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A turn signal system for a vehicle having a steering wheel, said system comprising:
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right signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right; left signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the left; control means for selectively supplying energy to said right and left signal means; a right selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a manner below a predetermined right selector threshold for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a manner above the predetermined right selector threshold for causing said control means to energize said right signal means to perform a second indication operation; and a left selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a manner below a predetermined left selector threshold for causing said control means to energize said left signal means to perform a first indication operation and actuatable in a manner above the predetermined left selector threshold for causing said controller to energize said left signal means to perform a second indication operation. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A turn signal system for a vehicle having a steering wheel, said system comprising:
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right signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right; left signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the left; control means for selectively supplying energy to said right and left signal means; a right selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means in an indication operation of predetermined duration and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said right signal means in an indication operation maintained indefinitely until cancelled; and a left selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in a first manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means in an indication operation of predetermined duration and actuatable in a second manner for causing said control means to energize said left signal means in an indication operation maintained indefinitely until cancelled.
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17. A turn signal system for a vehicle having a steering wheel, said system comprising:
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right signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the right; left signal means energizable for indicating an intended movement of the vehicle toward the left; a right selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in first and second manners for selecting said right signal means for energization; a left selector pushbutton, located on the steering wheel, actuatable in first and second manners for selecting said left signal means for energization; and control means for selectively supplying energy to said right and left signal means in response to actuation of said right or left selector pushbuttons, said control means including means for distinguishing between the first and second manners of actuation of said right selector pushbutton for energizing said right signal means for a first indication operation in response to the first manner of actuation of said right selector pushbutton and for energizing said right signal means for a second indication operation in response to the second manner of actuation of said right selector pushbutton, and said control means including means for distinguishing between the first and second manners of actuation of said left selector pushbutton and for energizing said left signal means for a first indication operation in response to the first manner of actuation of said left selector pushbutton and for energizing said left signal means for a second indication operation in response to the second manner of actuation of said left selector pushbutton.
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18. A method of indicating intended movement of a vehicle having a steering wheel, said method comprising:
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actuating a right selector pushbutton on the steering wheel in a first manner to cause right signal means to be energized in an indication operation of predetermined duration; actuating the right selector pushbutton in a second manner to cause the right signal means to be energized in an indication operation maintained indefinitely until cancelled; actuating a left selector pushbutton on the steering wheel in a first manner to cause left signal means to be energized in an indication operation of predetermined duration; and actuating the left selector pushbutton in a second manner to cause the left signal means to be energized in an indication operation maintained indefinitely until cancelled.
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Specification