Safety helmet and vehicle system, circuit and device

• US 9,769,638 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2015
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Arab Emirates University (Al Hikma Development Co. PJSC)
• Original Assignee: United Arab Emirates University (Al Hikma Development Co. PJSC)
• Inventors: Alsayyed Ahmad, Basel, Altelbani, Ahmed
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KHAI MINH
• Application Number:
  US14/948,348
• Publication Number:
  US 20170150333A1
• Time in Patent Office: 667 Days
• Field of Search: 4554042, 4554041, 4554141, 4554561, 4555692, 4555501
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3866 carried on the head
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

There is provided a system for enhancing safety of a vehicle for which an operator wears a helmet, the system comprising an RFID device comprising an RFID tag and an RFID reader adapted to detect whether the helmet is within a proximity distance from the vehicle and to output a first helmet status signal; a helmet presence detector adapted to detect whether the helmet is being worn by the operator and to output a second helmet status signal; and a circuit for receiving safety conditions signals comprising the first and second helmet status signals and for activating an ignition system of the vehicle when safety conditions are detected, the safety conditions comprising when the helmet is detected to be concurrently within the proximity distance and worn by the operator. There is also provided a safety circuit and helmet device.

Claims

1. A system for enhancing safety of a vehicle for which an operator wears a helmet, the system comprising:

an RFID device comprising an RFID tag and an RFID reader for detecting whether the helmet is within a proximity distance from the vehicle and for outputting a first helmet status signal;

a helmet presence detector, comprising one or more sensors for detecting whether the helmet is being worn by the operator and to output a second helmet status signal;

a circuit for receiving safety conditions signals comprising the first and second helmet status signals and for activating an ignition system of the vehicle when safety conditions are detected, the safety conditions comprising when the helmet is detected to be concurrently within the proximity distance and worn by the operator; and

wherein the safety conditions signals received by the circuit comprise the seat status signal, and wherein the safety conditions based on which the ignition system is activated when detected further comprise when the operator is detected to be seated on the vehicle seat.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the RFID tag and the helmet presence detector are positioned at the helmet, and wherein the RFID reader is positioned at the vehicle.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the circuit comprises:

a transmitter positioned at the helmet and connected to the helmet presence detector;

a receiver positioned at the vehicle and in wireless communication with the transmitter;

a processing unit positioned at the vehicle and in communication with the receiver, the RFID reader and with the ignition system;

wherein the transmitter receives from the helmet detector and wirelessly transmits to the receiver the second helmet status signal, wherein the processing unit receives the first and second helmet status signals respectively from the RFID reader and from the receiver and determines based on the signals received when the helmet is concurrently within the proximity distance and worn by the operator and outputs an activation signal for activating the vehicle ignition system.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the proximity distance is set as a function of a location of the RFID reader when positioned at the vehicle such that the helmet is detected by the RFID reader only when the operator is sufficiently close to the vehicle or seated within the vehicle.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the RFID tag and the RFID reader frequency and power are configured to set the proximity distance.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the vehicle is a motorcycle, the proximity distance is set in the range of 0.5-1.5 meter, the RFID tag frequency is set in the range of 3-30 MHz and the reader power is set in the range of 10-20 Watts.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more pressure sensors, optical sensors, thermal sensors or biophysical sensors.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an operator seat detector for detecting whether the operator is seated on an operator seat of the vehicle and to output a seat status signal, and wherein the safety conditions signals received by the circuit comprise the seat status signal, and wherein the safety conditions based on which the ignition system is activated when detected further comprise when the operator is detected to be seated on the vehicle seat.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

an accident detector for detecting occurrence of an accident and outputting an accident status signal; and

an emergency notification unit for taking an emergency action based on instructions received from the circuit;

wherein the circuit is adapted to receive the accident status signal and to activate the emergency notification unit when serious accident conditions are detected, the serious accident conditions comprising when the operator is not detected on the operator seat at the occurrence of an accident based on the seat status signal and the accident status signal received respectively from the vehicle seat detector and the accident detector.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the emergency notification unit comprises:

a GSM/GPS system comprising a SIM card for establishing a voice communication channel with a predefined third party and for providing the third party with a location of the vehicle where the accident occurred;

a speaker/microphone device that is automatically activated when the voice communication channel is established for enabling the operator to communicate with the third party;

wherein the activation of the emergency notification unit by the circuit comprises activating the GSM/GPS system for establishing the voice communication channel and sending the accident location and activating the speaker/microphone for enabling communication with the operator through the voice communication channel.

11. The system as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

a speed detector for detecting a wheel speed of the vehicle and outputting a wheel speed signal;

wherein the circuit comprises an input/output interface for receiving the wheel speed signal from the speed detector and wherein the serious accident conditions based on which the emergency notification unit is activated by the circuit when detected further comprise when the wheel speed of the vehicle is detected to be higher than a predefined threshold at the occurrence of an accident.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the circuit lock the ignition system for a predefined period of time when the serious accident conditions are detected.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12 wherein:

the operator seat detector comprises one or more pressure sensors, optical sensors or thermal sensors;

the accident detector comprises one or more shock detectors; and

the wheel speed detector comprises one or more speed sensors for measuring the rotational speed of one or more vehicle wheels.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the circuit comprises a processing unit, wherein the processing unit:

receive real time detection signals from the RFID reader, the helmet presence detector, the speed detector, the accident detector and the operator seat detector;

assess when the safety conditions are met as a function of the real time detection signals received;

assess when the serious accident conditions are met as a function of the real time detection signals received; and

activate or deactivate the ignition system and the emergency notification unit as a function of the assessments.

15. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a motorcycle, a bike, a personal water craft, or a snowmobile.

16. A safety helmet adapted to be worn by an operator of a vehicle for enhancing safety, the helmet comprising:

an RFID tag adapted to be connected to a RFID reader, the RFID reader adapted to be positioned at the vehicle for detecting whether the helmet is within a proximity distance and for outputting a first helmet status signal;

a helmet presence detector comprising one or more sensors for detecting whether the helmet is being worn by the vehicle operator for outputting a second helmet status signal;

wherein a circuit is adapted to be positioned at the vehicle and to be connected to an ignition system of the vehicle for receiving the first and second helmet status signals and for activating the ignition system of the vehicle when the helmet is detected to be concurrently within the proximity distance and worn by the operator; and

wherein the safety conditions signals received by the circuit comprise the seat status signal, and wherein the safety conditions based on which the ignition system is activated when detected further comprise when the operator is detected to be seated on the vehicle seat.

17. A safety circuit positioned at a vehicle and connected to an RFID reader in communication with an RFID tag positioned at a helmet, a helmet presence detector positioned at the helmet, and at least one of a speed detector for detecting a wheel speed of the vehicle, an accident detector for detecting occurrence of an accident and an operator seat detector for detecting whether a vehicle operator is seated on a vehicle operator seat for:

receiving real time detection signals from the RFID reader, the helmet presence detector, and the at least one of the speed detector, the accident detector and the operator seat detector;

assessing when safety conditions are met as a function of the real time detection signals received, wherein the safety conditions comprise whether the helmet is detected to be concurrently within the proximity distance and worn by the operator and whether the vehicle operator is detected to be seated on the vehicle operator seat;

assessing when serious accident conditions are met as a function of the real time detection signals received, wherein the serious accident conditions comprise at least one of whether the operator is not detected to be on the operator seat at the occurrence of an accident, and whether the wheel speed is above a predefined threshold while the operator is not detected to be on the operator seat at the occurrence of an accident;

activating or deactivating at least one of a vehicle ignition system and an emergency notification unit as a function of the assessments.

18. The safety circuit as claimed in claim 17 wherein the circuit comprises a microcontroller comprising a processing unit and an input/output interface for receiving the detection signals, processing the detection signals for conducting the assessments, and to activating or deactivating the at least one of the ignition system and the emergency notification unit based on a decision made by the processing unit as a function of the assessments.