Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve

• US 6,873,253 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Issued: 03/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Spyros Veziris
• Original Assignee: Spyros Veziris
• Inventors: Veziris, Spyros
• Primary Examiner(s): GOINS, DAVETTA WOODS
• Application Number:
  US10/270,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20040070493A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• Field of Search: 340/441, 340/440, 340/438, 340/439, 340/689, 340/686.2, 340/690, 180/172, 180/171, 180/170, 180/197, 180/199, 180/41, 180/271, 180/282, 200/61.45 R, 200/61.47, 200/61.52, 200/52.A, 333/662.7, 701/38
• US Class Current: 340/441
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0233 Vehicle tilting, overturning or roll over

Abstract

An autonomous device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve. The device is compact with both the sensing means and alarm audio and/or visual signal producing means. The sensing means comprises two, alternatively activated and differentially calibrated by means of a proposed calibration device, pair of mercury switches, each pair comprising two oppositely inclined mercury switches for monitoring right and left turns of the vehicle, wherein the first pair is adapted for use in conditions of dry road surface by calibration at a predetermined value of inclination and a second pair is adapted for use in conditions of wet road surface by calibration at a different predetermined value of inclination.

Claims

1. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, so that they may be alerted in taking remedial measures, comprising sensing means including an arrangement of mercury switches, each one of said switches comprising a cylindrical tube within which is freely reciprocatingly moving a mercury bulb and alarm audio and/or visual signal producing means activated by said switches, the device being characterized by that:

it is an autonomous, self-powered, compact device with said sensing means and said audio and/or visual signal producing means being located within one single main housing portion (1) including a rear cavity (12a) for the installation of battery means (12) for providing an independent energy supply for operation of the device and including closure means of a frontal panel surface (1a) extending into a perpendicularly projecting basement (1b);

said sensing means comprising two, alternatively activated and differentially calibrated, pairs of mercury switches, each said pair comprising two oppositely inclined mercury switches for monitoring right and left turns of the vehicle, wherein a first pair of said pairs of mercury switches (18,19) is adapted for use in conditions of dry road surface by calibration of said mercury switches (18,19) at a predetermined value of inclination and a second pair of said pairs of mercury switches (20,21) is adapted for use in conditions of wet road surface by calibration of said mercury switches (20,21) at a different predetermined value of inclination, each one of said mercury switches being fixedly mounted within a lateral cavity of cylindrical carrier means (18a, 19a, 20a, 21a) respectively, said cylindrical carrier means (18a, 19a, 20a, 21a) respectively extending into rotatable knobs (18b, 19b, 20b, 21b), and

said device being accompanied with a calibration device for selectively adjusting response sensitivity of each one of said mercury switches (18, 19, 20, 21) into corresponding combination of performance characteristics of different vehicles and particular driving habits and skills of individual drivers.

2. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, characterized by that the alternative activation of said first pair of mercury switches (18,19) or said second pair of mercury switches (20,21) is carried out by means of a manually operated switch with an operation lever (9) on said frontal panel surface (1a) and a switch box (9a) at the rear of said frontal panel surface (1a).

3. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, characterized by that the alternative activation of said first pair of mercury switches (18,19) or said second pair of mercury switches (20,21) is carried out automatically upon changing of conditions of the road surface in response to activation of the windscreen wipers of the vehicle.

4. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, wherein

upon said frontal panel surface (1a) are located said switch (9) used in the alternative activation of said first pair of mercury switches (18,19) or said second pair of mercury switches (20,21), a switch (10) used to set the device on or off and said rotatable knobs (18b, 19b, 20b, 21b) being used in the calibration procedure of said mercury switches, said knobs (18b, 19b, 20b, 21b) correspondingly extending to said cylindrical carrier means (18a, 19a, 20a, 21a) with said mercury switches (18, 19, 20, 21) at the rear of said frontal panel surface (1a) and wherein

upon said perpendicularly projecting basement (1b) of said frontal panel surface is located a rectangular basement (28) onto which are mounted and wired said alarm audio signal producing means (15) sitting onto a vibration absorbing elastic plate (38), a capacitor (22), a mercury switch (23) mounted onto a vertically oriented cylindrical carrier (24) adapted to operate so as to cut off possible activation of anyone of said mercury switches (18, 19, 20, 21) of said sensing means in response to erroneous sensing of bumps or holes in the road and a pair of opposing conductive plates (13) extending through openings (14) of said main housing portion (1) on either end of said rear cavity (12a) thereof for the installation of battery means (12) for providing an independent energy supply for operation of the device.

5. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, wherein said calibration device for selectively adjusting response sensitivity of each one of said mercury switches (18, 19, 20, 21) into corresponding combination of performance characteristics of different vehicles and particular driving habits and skills of individual drivers comprises a vertically oriented surface (32) adapted to receive a circularly marked scale (33a) of degrees, a table (33) whereupon is mounted the device to be calibrated extending perpendicularly from said vertically oriented surface (32), said table (33) being fixedly mounted onto said vertically oriented surface (32) by means of a bolt and nut assembly (34,35), a leveling means (31a) located onto a body (31) extending at the bottom of said vertically oriented surface (32), the calibration device (36) being mounted by means of a pair of legs (30) at the bottom of said vertically oriented surface (32) and of a leg (29) provided at the bottom of said body (31) of the leveling means (31a), said legs being adjustable to obtain optimum level mounting of the calibration device.

6. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, wherein the device is mounted onto the driving panel and even embodied into a selected location thereof.

7. Device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve, as claimed in above claim 1, wherein the device is mounted onto the windscreen of the vehicle and for this purpose it further includes a suspension means portion (2) of said main housing portion (1), said suspension means (2) having a configuration such as to grip said main housing portion (1) and lock onto the same to form a fixed assembly through engagement of an angular front end surface (2a) and a rear hook (27) of said suspension means portion (2) onto corresponding angular recessions (1c) on the front surface and recession (26) at the rear bottom surface of said main housing portion (1), a third housing portion (3) being rotatably connected to said suspension means portion (2) and fixedly mounted onto the windscreen, wherein rotation of the assembly of said first housing portion (1) and said suspension means portion (2) in a horizontal and vertical direction relative to the fixedly mounted onto the windscreen said third housing portion (3) allows bringing the device in a horizontal orientation prior to fixedly connecting and locking said third housing portion (3) onto said suspension means portion (2).