Blind spot indicator
First Claim
1. A blind spot indicator for a moving vehicle having side view mirrors on each side of the vehicle creating a blind spot when the driver of the vehicle looks at each of the side view mirrors, comprising projecting means on the moving vehicle for projecting a beam of visible light on a roadway on which the moving vehicle is driving to indicate to proximate vehicles at least one blind spot region of the driver in the moving vehicle associated with at least one of the side view mirrors, said beam forming a sharp or distinct line on the roadway that has a predetermined thickness that is substantially smaller than a length of said line illuminated on the roadway defining boundaries of said at least one of said blind spot regions to the driver of a vehicle proximate to said at least one of said blind spot regions to whom the line on the roadway is visible;
- and switching means for selectively activating said projecting means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A beam is projected on the roadway by a vehicle that is visible to vehicles that are in its proximity, the beam on the roadway indicating to adjacent vehicles when they are in a blind spot of the beam generating vehicle. This makes it possible for the vehicle to slow down, speed up or move into another lane to avoid being in a blind spot of the vehicle in its proximity. An optical beam generator is mounted or integrated on a vehicle such as within side view mirror(s). The beam(s) may be generated using any suitable optical beam generator(s) including a laser, LED'"'"'s or any other suitable source of illumination for projecting a line or other optical illuminated indicia to demarcate blind spot region(s) to operators of adjoining vehicles.
10 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A blind spot indicator for a moving vehicle having side view mirrors on each side of the vehicle creating a blind spot when the driver of the vehicle looks at each of the side view mirrors, comprising projecting means on the moving vehicle for projecting a beam of visible light on a roadway on which the moving vehicle is driving to indicate to proximate vehicles at least one blind spot region of the driver in the moving vehicle associated with at least one of the side view mirrors, said beam forming a sharp or distinct line on the roadway that has a predetermined thickness that is substantially smaller than a length of said line illuminated on the roadway defining boundaries of said at least one of said blind spot regions to the driver of a vehicle proximate to said at least one of said blind spot regions to whom the line on the roadway is visible;
- and switching means for selectively activating said projecting means.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of forming a blind spot indication for a moving vehicle having side view mirrors on each side of the vehicle creating a blind spot when the driver of the vehicle looks at each side view mirror, comprising projecting from the moving vehicle a beam of visible light on a roadway on which the moving vehicle is driving to indicate to proximate vehicles at least one blind spot region of the driver in the moving vehicle associated with at least one of the side view mirrors, said beam forming a sharp or distinct line on the roadway that has a predetermined thickness that is substantially smaller than a length of said line illuminated on the roadway defining boundaries of said at least one of said blind spot regions to a driver of a vehicle proximate to said at least one of said blind spot regions to whom the line on the roadway is visible;
- and selectively projecting the beam of visible light on the roadway by switching a projecting device on the moving vehicle.
Specification