Electronic roll warning system for vehicles

• US 4,078,224 A
• Filed: 06/25/1976
• Issued: 03/07/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lawrence A. Mize
• Original Assignee: Lawrence A. Mize
• Inventors: Mize, Lawrence A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Waring, Alvin H.
• Application Number:
  US05/700,412
• Time in Patent Office: 620 Days
• Field of Search: 340/52 R, 340/52 H, 340/58, 340/199, 340/253 H, 340/253 N, 340/267 R, 340/267 C, 340/272, 340/285
• US Class Current: 340/440
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0185 for failure detection
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/206 Body oscillation speed; Body vibration frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/60 Load
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/63 Location of the center of gravity
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/91 Frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/044 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/012 Rolling condition
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction

Abstract

A roll warning system to alert a vehicle operator of the amount of transverse weight shift or roll of the vehicle. The warning system includes a pair of strain sensing units mounted to opposing suspension units of the vehicle, voltage generating circuitry responsive to the strain measuring units, and output circuitry responsive to the voltage generating circuitry for providing the warning indicia to the operator. Each strain sensing unit responds to the distortion induced by the weight of the vehicle in the suspension unit to which the sensing unit is attached by generating a signal representative of such distortion. The voltage generating circuitry receives these distortion representative signals, amplifies their difference, and generates a voltage representative of the difference in weight supported by each of the opposing suspension units. A number of individual warning devices, included in the output circuitry, are operated in response to predetected levels of the magnitude of the weight difference representative voltage to inform the operator of the transverse weight shift of the vehicle from one side to the other.

Claims

1. A roll warning system for a vehicle having wheels mounted to at least a pair of opposing sides thereof by a suspension unit, said warning system comprising:

means coupled to said suspension unit for dynamically sensing the distortion imparted to said suspension unit by the weight of said vehicle and for generating therefrom a first linear signal representative of a transverse weight shift from the one side of said vehicle to the opposing side thereof;

means for displaying warning indicia to a driver and including a plurality of warning devices, said warning indicia being representative of the amount of said transverse weight shift; and

means interconnecting said sensing means and said display means for operating said display means in response to said first signal, said operating means including amplifying means for receiving said first signal and for generating therefrom a voltage proportional to an absolute value of said transverse weight shift and detecting means for detecting a plurality of predetermined levels of said voltage, said detecting means being coupled to said display means to activate at least one of said warning devices in response to a corresponding one of said detected levels.

2. A roll warning system for a vehicle having wheels coupled thereto by opposing suspension units mounted to each one of a longitudinal side of said vehicle, said warning system comprising:

a first strain sensing means coupled to the suspension unit on one side of said vehicle for generating a first signal representative of the distortion imparted to the suspension unit by at least a portion of the weight of said vehicle;

a second strain sensing means coupled to the opposing suspension unit on the opposite side of said vehicle for generating a second signal representative of the distortion imparted to the opposing suspension unit by at least a portion of the weight of the vehicle;

combining means for receiving said first and second signals and for generating therefrom a signal voltage representative of the absolute difference in weight supported by said opposing suspension units;

compare means for receiving and comparing said signal voltage to a plurality of predetermined reference voltage levels and for detecting a plurality of levels of said signal voltage; and

output means responsive to said compare means for displaying warning indicia representative of the amount of transverse weight shift of said vehicle to an operator of said vehicle.

3. The warning system of claim 2, wherein said first and second strain sensing means comprises strain-sensitive resistors.

4. The warning system of claim 3, including an electrical bridge circuit;

and wherein said first and second strain sensing means comprise two parallel and interconnected arms of said electrical bridge circuit.

5. The warning system of claim 2, wherein said output means includes a plurality of warning devices.

6. The warning system of claim 5, wherein said compare means includes a plurality of outputs for activating one or more of said warning devices in response to predetermined levels of said signal voltage.

7. A roll warning system for a vehicle having wheels mounted to each side thereof by a suspension unit, said warning system comprising:

first means coupled to said suspension unit on one side of said vehicle for dynamically sensing the distortion imparted thereto by the weight of said vehicle and for generating a first linear signal representative of said distortion;

second means coupled to the suspension unit on the other side of said vehicle for dynamically sensing the distortion imparted thereto by the weight of said vehicle and for generating a second linear signal representative of said distortion;

means for displaying warning indicia to a driver, said warning indicia being representative of the amount of distortion imparted to said suspension unit; and

means coupling said first and second sensing means to said display means for operating said display means in response to said first and second signals, the coupling means including means for combining said second signal with said first signal and for generating therefrom a voltage proportional to an absolute value of a difference between said first linear signal and said second linear signal, said voltage thereby being representative of the transverse weight shift from said one side of said vehicle to said opposite side of said vehicle.