System and method of prompting inspection of a multi-passenger vehicle
First Claim
1. For a multi-passenger motor vehicle having a vehicle safety flasher and a passenger compartment disposed to the rear of a driver compartment, a warning system comprisinga system activator comprising an arming switch to arm the warning system, the system activator being thereby latched into an activated state,an alarm,an alarm activator for activating the alarm, the alarm activator being activated when an electrical system of the vehicle is deactivated unless an alarm override is activated,a system deactivator comprising a disarming switch for deactivating the warning system, andan alarm override comprising a circuit powering the vehicle safety flasher, for maintaining the alarm activator in an activated state when the vehicle safety flasher is in an activated state,whereby when the vehicle safety flasher is activated the alarm activator is not activated when the electrical system of the vehicle is deactivated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A warning system for a multi-passenger vehicle such as a school bus which prompts the driver to inspect the vehicle for passengers when shutting down the vehicle. In the preferred embodiment the system is activated when the vehicle safety flasher system is activated. Following activation an alarm sounds when the vehicle electrical system is deactivated by shutting off the engine unless the bus driver activates an alarm delay switch and within a preset time interval activates a disarming switch located near the back of the passenger compartment. Thus, in order to deactivate the warning system of the invention the bus driver must walk through the passenger area of the vehicle at least twice, inspecting the passenger area of the vehicle in the process. The time taken to inspect the vehicle serves as a cool-down period for the vehicle engine, which is desirable in the case of turbo charged vehicle engines.
50 Citations
19 Claims
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1. For a multi-passenger motor vehicle having a vehicle safety flasher and a passenger compartment disposed to the rear of a driver compartment, a warning system comprising
a system activator comprising an arming switch to arm the warning system, the system activator being thereby latched into an activated state, an alarm, an alarm activator for activating the alarm, the alarm activator being activated when an electrical system of the vehicle is deactivated unless an alarm override is activated, a system deactivator comprising a disarming switch for deactivating the warning system, and an alarm override comprising a circuit powering the vehicle safety flasher, for maintaining the alarm activator in an activated state when the vehicle safety flasher is in an activated state, whereby when the vehicle safety flasher is activated the alarm activator is not activated when the electrical system of the vehicle is deactivated.
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8. For a multi-passenger vehicle having a passenger compartment disposed to the rear of a driver compartment, a warning system comprising
a system activator comprising an arming switch to arm the warning system, the system activator being thereby latched into an activated state, a system deactivator comprising a disarming switch, an alarm delay switch for delaying activation of the alarm by a selected delay interval following deactivation of an electrical system of the vehicle, and an alarm activated immediately when the electrical system is deactivated while the warning system is armed unless the alarm delay switch has been activated, whereby the warning system is deactivated by the disarming switch which is located near a rear of the passenger compartment so that the driver must traverse the passenger compartment to activate the disarming switch and deactivate the warning system in order to avoid activation of the alarm, activation of the alarm being delayed for the selected delay interval following deactivation of the electrical system when the alarm delay switch is activated.
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14. A method of prompting a driver of a multi-passenger motor vehicle having a passenger compartment disposed to the rear of a driver compartment to inspect the passenger compartment before shutting off the vehicle engine, comprising the steps of
a) arming a warning system during use of the vehicle, b) activating an alarm when an electrical system of the vehicle is deactivated while the warning system is armed, c) initiating an alarm delay interval by activating an alarm delay switch before shutting off the vehicle engine, and d) activating a disarming switch located at a rear portion of the passenger compartment within the delay interval to disarm the warning system, whereby a driver of the vehicle must traverse the passenger compartment after in order to activate the disarming switch to thereby disarm the warning system.
Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeBMR Manufacturing Incorporated, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Ag
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Original AssigneeBMR Manufacturing Incorporated
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InventorsPhillips, William R., Reavell, James A.
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Primary Examiner(s)Crosland, Donnie L.
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Application NumberUS09/113,161Time in Patent Office774 DaysField of Search340/429, 340/433, 340/457, 340/430, 340/527, 340/523, 340/309.15, 340/309.4, 340/425.5US Class Current340/433CPC Class CodesB60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation o...
