Vehicle warning system

• US 6,696,976 B1
• Filed: 07/23/2002
• Issued: 02/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jay A. Hansen
• Original Assignee: Jay A. Hansen
• Inventors: Hansen, Jay A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieu, Julie
• Application Number:
  US10/201,096
• Time in Patent Office: 581 Days
• Field of Search: 340/902, 340/901, 455/99, 455/209, 455/227, 455/345
• US Class Current: 340/902
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/162 event-triggered

Abstract

A vehicular warning system for use by school buses and/or other emergency vehicles in rural, hilly, areas and extremely low population areas, which provides a short range radio transmission signal broadcast sequentially over all 40 channels of a citizens band radio acting as an audible signal to be picked up by any nearby CB radio turned on. The warning system comprises a transmitter means to be installed on school buses and/or other emergency vehicles that can warn truck drivers of an upcoming situation which would require the truck to slow down or stop. The present system finds special utility in hilly regions where a truck driver cannot see over the next hill, and consequently does not know if he needs to stop.

Claims

1. A vehicle warning system to be installed on school buses, police cars, railroad crossings and other emergency situations, comprising:

an emergency transmitter radio including an oscillator in communication with a citizens band radio tuner;

a decade counter with select lines for sequentially tuning all 40 FCC approved channels in a time frame of from about 0.5 to about 10 seconds;

a phase locked loop tuner for receiving required N-code inputs from the decade counter;

an audio oscillator for producing an audio signal;

a transmitter mixer for combining the signals from the citizens band radio tuner and the phase locked loop tuner; and

an amplifier which transmits the mixed signal through an antenna, whereby all 40 channels of a standard CB radio will be transmitted over a short range of from about 0.1 to about 2 miles, such that any vehicle having a CB radio turned on will receive an audible signal warning of upcoming danger on whatever channel the CB radio is tuned to.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the decade counter includes a binary counter.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein all 40 FCC approved channels are tuned within about 2 seconds.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio signal transmitted includes distinctive alternating 2-tone audio signals.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitted range is from about 0.1 to about 0.5 miles.