EXTERNAL SAFETY ILLUMINATION FOR A BUS

• US 20080106908A1
• Filed: 11/07/2007
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rosco Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Rosco Incorporated
• Inventors: Englander, Benjamin
• Granted Patent: US 8,075,169 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/481
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/247 for illuminating the close surroundings of the vehicle, e.g. to facilitate entry or exit for reverse drive B60Q1/22; by opening a side door B60Q1/323
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/324 for signalling that a door is open or intended to be opened
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/503 using luminous text or symbol displays in or on the vehicle, e.g. static text
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/547 for issuing requests to other traffic participants; for confirming to other traffic participants they can proceed, e.g. they can overtake

Abstract

A lighting strip along the side of a schoolbus or other passenger vehicle between a door near the front of the schoolbus and the back side of the schoolbus to reduce the risk of people or other objects being injured by the schoolbus. The lighting strip may be focused downward to illuminate the ground and may provide vehicle status information and guiding information. Lighting strips may be provided on both sides of the schoolbus, and may also be provided on the back side of the schoolbus and on mirrors or mirror arms. Further, the lighting strips may be provided on the underside of the schoolbus along the passenger side. One or more floodlights may be provided on the roof or near the top of the schoolbus along the side with the door. An expandable crossing gate on the driver'"'"'s side of the exterior wall is also provided.

Claims

1. A ground illumination system for a vehicle having passenger and driver side exterior walls and a rear vehicle wall, the ground illumination system comprising:

a light structure which directs light primarily at the ground level and along an area strip located adjacent the passenger side wall of the vehicle, in a manner which enables a driver to view a passenger located in the area strip via an exteriorly mounted bus mirror or camera, under conditions of lower visibility.

2. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a schoolbus, the strip area is substantially rectangular and extends substantially along the passenger side wall, and the light structure comprises an elongated LED strip, extending along the passenger side wall.

3. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises a bumper extending along the passenger side wall and wherein the light structure is mounted to extend along and under the bumper.

4. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure is mounted substantially at an underside of the vehicle.

5. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes an interface which receives an input signal from one or more of a transmission, manual switches, and a passenger door control.

6. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure is positioned above windows of the vehicle, in an orientation where the light from the light structure is directed toward the ground.

7. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure includes components that are located both at the passenger side and the driver'"'"'s side exterior walls.

8. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure includes components that are located both at the passenger side and the rear side walls.

9. The ground illumination system of claim 1, including a control and an associated timer which control the light structure in response to an event comprising at least one of closing or opening a passenger door of the vehicle, issuance of a manual command to turn on or turn off the light structure, commencement or cessation of flashing of an amber or a red light positioned at an exterior of the vehicle, and a shifting of the vehicle'"'"'s transmission into a drive mode.

10. The ground illumination system of claim 9, including turning off the light structure after the lapse of a set time period after occurrence of the event.

11. The ground illumination system of claim 10, wherein the set time period is adjustable.

12. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure comprises at least one light which is capable of providing a sweeping light beam that illuminates the area strip.

13. The ground illumination system of claim 1, including cameras mounted to the vehicle, an image recording system for the cameras, and a control which causes images of at least one of the cameras to be recorded on the image recording system during passenger pick ups or discharges.

14. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure is positioned on a mount or on an arm of a mirror, the arm of the mirror extending away from the passenger side exterior wall or the driver side exterior wall.

15. The ground illumination system of claim 1, wherein the light structure is configured to display a signal indicating that crossing is safe or a signal indicating that crossing is unsafe.

16. A passenger alert system for a vehicle having a passenger side exterior wall and a driver side exterior wall, the passenger alert system comprising:

a light strip positioned on at least one of the passenger side exterior wall and the driver side exterior wall and operable to display letters indicating that the vehicle is arriving and to display letters indicating that the vehicle is departing; and

a control positioned in a driver'"'"'s station of the vehicle operable to control the display of the letters.

17. The passenger alert system of claim 16, wherein the letters inform passengers that crossing into an area adjacent the schoolbus is safe or unsafe.

18. A crossing gate for a vehicle having a driver side exterior wall, the crossing gate comprising:

a traffic stopping structure operable to extend to an open position, the crossing gate traversing more than a third of a traffic lane in the open position, and to return to a closed position; and

a hinge unit positioned on the driver side exterior wall for supporting the structure, the hinge unit operable to pivot out the structure to a first position extending away from the driver side exterior wall and to pivot in the collapsible mesh structure to a second position substantially flush with the driver side exterior wall.

19. The crossing gate of claim 18, wherein the structure is constructed as a collapsible and expandable mesh structure.

20. The crossing gate of claim 18, further comprising a telescoping arm electronically operable to telescope out to expand the mesh structure to the open position and to telescope in to contract the mesh structure to the closed position.

21. The crossing gate of claim 18, further comprising at least one of a sign configured to caution drivers to stop or lights configured to caution drivers to stop.

22. The crossing gate of claim 18, including a telescoping arm positioned in the crossing gate, the telescoping arm electrically operable to telescope out to expand the structure to the open position and to telescope in to contract the structure to the closed position;

a control positioned in a driver'"'"'s station and operable to electronically control the telescoping arm.

23. A passenger alert system for a vehicle, the system comprising:

a light strip positioned on at least one mirror of the vehicle and operable to display a message indicating that crossing into an area adjacent the vehicle is safe or that crossing into the area is unsafe; and

a control positioned in a driver'"'"'s station of the vehicle operable to control the display of the message.

24. The passenger alert system of claim 23, further comprising a countdown timer indicating one of a vehicle departure or a vehicle arrival.

25. The passenger alert system of claim 23, further comprising a light strip positioned on at least one of a passenger side exterior wall and a driver side exterior wall and operable to display a sign indicating that the vehicle is arriving and to display another sign indicating that the vehicle is departing, the display being coordinated with the display of the message.