1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a device that makes the vehicle operation safe by warning the operator of the vehicle with the help of an incrementally increasing audio/visual warning process. The intelligent crescendo system (ICS) is activated when the operator of a vehicle fails to respond in a defined time frame to an ongoing event which requires manual termination. The ICS includes a crescendo control module, a universal connection module and a switching device to deactivate the ICS in case of a system malfunction.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Timer activated audio warning systems are well known in the automotive industry. The typical on/off settings of a standard audio warning system provides an audio actuation cycle which includes preset time delays between consecutive beeps or other audio warnings. Most timer activated warning systems provide a limited set of settings with each setting having a specific time delay between consecutive audio beeps.
Timer activated audio warning systems provide periodic rather than continuous tones. They are less disturbing to the operator than a continuous tone. It is important to ensure that recurrent beeping is sufficient to keep an operator informed about the task being performed.
Among the problems with these timer controlled audio warning systems is that they require periodic adjustments between the various preset actuation cycles and time delays.
ICS provides a system that warns the operator of a vehicle to manually and/or automatically terminate the execution of a task extending beyond a pre-specified time e.g., there are vehicle operators who activate the turn signals, make the turn and then fail to inactivate the signal if it does not terminate spontaneously. Other vehicle operators in the vicinity may find the non-termination of the activated signal confusing, thus increasing the risk of an accident.
The present invention offers a solution to reduce the confusion created by the inability of the mechanisms provided in the automobile by the manufacturers of the vehicle to intelligently terminate the task at the appropriate time when the event has culminated. The execution signals are analyzed by an analyzer/controller module which calculates the execution time allotted for a specified task. As the execution time of the task exceeds a pre-set time, the volume of the beep starts to rise incrementally. A “continuous” audio tone setting occurs when no action is taken to terminate the task that has exceeded the specified time.
The ICS contains: a) an intelligent controller with memory; b) a display panel; c) a switch; d) a programmable interface unit; and e) a universal connecting module with a graphical interface to the vehicle module.
The invention claimed herein is described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to drawings, which are part of the description of the invention. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:
The invention is further described in detail with reference to the figures, which include the systematic arrangement of the intelligent crescendo system (ICS) with the vehicle main computer control system.
In one embodiment of the invention,
The crescendo main control unit 10 of such ICS embodiment may be interfaced with the vehicle main computer control system. The crescendo main control unit 10 illustrated has a display panel 27 and a master ON/OFF switch 26. The crescendo main control unit 10 that is illustrated also has a volume and visual control interface.
A setup interface 12 may be provided to modify the default system settings as required. The setup interface 12 may also provide settings which can be initialized when required. The system may also provide a universal connection module 11 with a graphic connection interface.
The device has an onboard processing unit which is interconnected to the various sub-components via a system bus. The crescendo main control unit 10 illustrated comprises a main controller 25, a memory module 24, an audio interface 23, a timer module 22, and a display controller 21.
The display panel 27 may perform the task of a message center which is used to view and display the controller settings, and provides an interface to program the unit to display any errors. The crescendo main control unit 10 has a volume and visual control interface.
The optional universal connector module 11 provides a graphic interface with the main module of the vehicle.
A setup interface module 12 is used for programming the crescendo main control unit 10. The setup interface module 12 provides multiple combinations of settings which can facilitate the connection to any type of vehicles. The setup interface module 12 carries a master switch, a timer switch, a default setting switch, a programmable delay setup and an audio as well as visual mode switch.
The ICS monitors each individual process being executed—step 104. If the monitored task is not terminated within a specified time frame, the crescendo main control unit 10 incrementally increases the audio output and modifies the visual display—step 105. The crescendo main control unit 10 monitors the task and the process execution time—step 106. On the successful termination of the process, the process counter and process timer are initialized or reset to their default value—step 107.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5099222 | Campagna | Mar 1992 | A |
5414407 | Gerrans et al. | May 1995 | A |
5455558 | Gregory | Oct 1995 | A |
5620436 | Lang et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
5632742 | Frey et al. | May 1997 | A |
5877676 | Shankarappa | Mar 1999 | A |
6179422 | Lai | Jan 2001 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20050146425 A1 | Jul 2005 | US |