GB1592116A - System for transmitting information for passengers on local transport vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The transmission device serves to inform passengers automatically of the next stop and, if appropriate, of possibilities of changing line and of connections. The said device consists of in each case one transmitting and receiving device (6, 7) installed in the vehicle and in an area comprising at least one stop, which devices (6, 7) communicate with one another in a wireless fashion. The exchange of information takes place by means of digitally encoded telegrams via for example an induction loop (1-5) which is laid in the carriageway and connected to the device (6) at the stop and a ferrite aerial attached to the vehicle. In the device (6) located at the stop, the name of the stop and, if appropriate, the possibilities of changing line and the line numbers of the vehicles waiting at the stop area are stored and are interrogated by pulses of the vehicle device (7). <IMAGE>

Description

(54) A SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING INFORMATION FOR PASSENGERS ON LOCAL TRANSPORT VEHICLES (71) We, ROBERT BOSCH GMBH, a German company of Postfach 50, 7 Stuttgart 1, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The present invention relates to an information system for passengers on local public transport vehicles, to indicate automatically to passengers the approaching stopping point and possibly opportunities to change.

At present it is usual for the name of the stopping point and the opportunities to change to be indicated by the driver. This solution is unsatisfactory not only from the point of view of the passenger-the announcements are as a rule difficult to make out-but also from an operational point of view--the driver is distracted from his real job, namely, of driving the vehicle.

The use of tape recorders which are prerecorded with all the names of the stopping points and opportunities to change is certainly advantageous as regards clear reproduction but the driver has to switch on the tape recorder for the announcement every time well before the next stop and then switch it off again afterwards.

Finally, there is the possibility of relieving the driver of the task of passenger information in that the information is relayed to the passengers by the agents in the ticket-distributing position through loudspeakers. This, however, requires a radio-telephone link between the ticket office and the vehicles and staff in these offices would have a substantially increased work load, since they would have to follow the progress of each individual vehicle exactly in order to relay the correct information at the correct time. For security reasons, the announcements could not be made over the emergency call channel. Other radio channels would therefore have to be made available, this being hardly possible owing to the scarcity of the frequency bands made available to the public transport services by the authorities.

The aim of the invention is therefore to develop a new information system by which the driver can be completely relieved of the tasks connected with passenger information and which moreover ensures that the information relayed to the passenger is complete and intelligible.

There is provided by the present invention a system for transmitting information for passengers on local public transport vehicles, wherein a respective transmitting and receiving device is installed in the vehicle and in the region of a stopping point, and at least the stopping point device has an information store containing information as to the identity of the stopping point and any opportunities to change to other vehicles, and the route numbers thereof, at the stopping point, and interrogatable by signal from the vehicle device; and wherein the stopping point device comprises an induction loop fixed in the roadway, through which transmission from that device to the vehicle device and transmission from the latter to the stopping point device are effected.

The arrangement according to the invention has the advantage that all necessary information is passed on to the passengers automatically before the vehicle stops. Passenger information does not involve any additional work for either the driver or the staff in the ticket office, nor are any additional radio channels required.

The transmitting- and receiving devices to be used are in themselves of a known type.

The exchange of information between the stopping point device and the vehicle device may be effected by means of digitally coded telegrams.

As the information store it would be possible to use, for example, any binary storage elements of short access time which are fitted with semiconductor stores in MOS flip-flop technology, namely, a so-called RAM; communication may be effected by electromagnetic coupling of flat wire loops which are fixed below the vehicle and into the road surface.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows the laying of induction loops in the region of a vehicle stopping point and their connection with a stopping point information device; and Fig. 2 the diagrammatic layout of the information system of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, six stopping points are indicated by dot symbols. They are surrounded by conductor loops I to 5, it being possible for stopping points located one behind the other to be surrounded by a common conductor loop as is the case with the conductor loop 5.

All conductor loops are connected to a fixed transmitting- and receiving device 6 which is installed in the region of the stopping points.

Similarly, each vehicle has its own transmitting- and receiving device 7 (Fig. 2) which may be equipped with a ferrite antenna to receive and radiate transmissions. Both the stationary and the mobile devices each have a transmitter, a receiver and a store.

The mode of operation is as follows: The device 7 is installed in the motor vehicle constantly sends out call telegrams. If the vehicle comes into the range of a conductor loop (see Fig. 2), the call telegram is evaluated by the receiver of the stopping point device 6. An identification signal is used to switch off the transmitter of the vehicle device 7 and simultaneously to switch on the transmitter of the stopping point device 6.

The latter then transmits the name of the stopping point in a coded form, for example in the form of a number, to the vehicle device 7. The stopping point number is evaluated in the vehicle device and the stopping point name with the opportunities to change is indicated in the interior of the vehicle. The information regarding opportunities to change may be transmitted separately by the stopping point device 6. The normal procedure will be, however, that the vehicle device on the basis of the transmitted stopping point number, itself recognizes whether and which opportunities to change exist.

After evaluation of the stopping point number, the transmitter of the vehicle device is switched on again and transmits the route number of the vehicle and the route numbers of the vehicles for which the vehicle provides a connection, to the stopping point device 6.

This information is entered in the store of the vehicle device either before the beginning of the journey or, if there is a radio system, during the journey. It is also possible for this information to be relayed by cable directly from the central control point to the stopping point device.

The transmitter of the stopping point device 6 is then switched on again to transmit the route numbers of the connection vehicles waiting in the stoping point region to the vehicle device 7.

The route number of a vehicle stored in the stopping point device 6 is cleared when the corresponding vehicle leaves the stopping point region, it being possible to establish this by determining the direction of travel of the vehicle when it passes over a loop.

As regards early announcement of approaching stopping points and opportunities to change, it is naturally within the framework of the invention to dispose the conductor loops slightly in advance of the stopping points so that passengers wishing to alight have enough time to prepare.

Through a combination of a mileage recorder and a stopping point number store in which the stopping points along the line are stored, it is possible for the next stopping point to be announced after leaving one stopping point or conductor loop.

The stopping point device may be battery operated.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A system for transmitting information for passengers on local public transport vehicles, wherein a respective transmittingand receiving device is installed in the vehicle and in the region of a stopping point, and at least the stopping point device has an information store containing information as to the identity of the stopping point and any opportunities to change to other vehicles, and the route numbers thereof, at the stopping point, and interrogatable by signal from the vehicle device; and wherein the stopping point device comprises an induction loop fixed in the roadway, through which transmission from that device to the vehicle device and transmission from the latter to the stopping point device are effected.

2. A system as claimed in either of claim 1, in which the information store of the stopping point device may be switched on and/or interrogated by pulses from the vehicle device.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the system comprises information means for indicating the information transmitted to the vehicle device optically or acoustically in the vehicle.

4. A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the route number of the vehicle is stored in the vehicle device for transmission to the stopping point device.

5. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the vehicle device has a ferrite antenna to receive signals transmitted from the stopping point device and to radiate signals thereto.

6. A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which a route number stored in the stopping point device is cleared therefrom after a specific period of time.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6, in which clearance of the route number is effected by the relevant vehicle driving over the induction loop.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (9)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Fig. 1 shows the laying of induction loops in the region of a vehicle stopping point and their connection with a stopping point information device; and Fig. 2 the diagrammatic layout of the information system of Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, six stopping points are indicated by dot symbols. They are surrounded by conductor loops I to 5, it being possible for stopping points located one behind the other to be surrounded by a common conductor loop as is the case with the conductor loop 5. All conductor loops are connected to a fixed transmitting- and receiving device 6 which is installed in the region of the stopping points. Similarly, each vehicle has its own transmitting- and receiving device 7 (Fig. 2) which may be equipped with a ferrite antenna to receive and radiate transmissions. Both the stationary and the mobile devices each have a transmitter, a receiver and a store. The mode of operation is as follows: The device 7 is installed in the motor vehicle constantly sends out call telegrams. If the vehicle comes into the range of a conductor loop (see Fig. 2), the call telegram is evaluated by the receiver of the stopping point device 6. An identification signal is used to switch off the transmitter of the vehicle device 7 and simultaneously to switch on the transmitter of the stopping point device 6. The latter then transmits the name of the stopping point in a coded form, for example in the form of a number, to the vehicle device 7. The stopping point number is evaluated in the vehicle device and the stopping point name with the opportunities to change is indicated in the interior of the vehicle. The information regarding opportunities to change may be transmitted separately by the stopping point device 6. The normal procedure will be, however, that the vehicle device on the basis of the transmitted stopping point number, itself recognizes whether and which opportunities to change exist. After evaluation of the stopping point number, the transmitter of the vehicle device is switched on again and transmits the route number of the vehicle and the route numbers of the vehicles for which the vehicle provides a connection, to the stopping point device 6. This information is entered in the store of the vehicle device either before the beginning of the journey or, if there is a radio system, during the journey. It is also possible for this information to be relayed by cable directly from the central control point to the stopping point device. The transmitter of the stopping point device 6 is then switched on again to transmit the route numbers of the connection vehicles waiting in the stoping point region to the vehicle device 7. The route number of a vehicle stored in the stopping point device 6 is cleared when the corresponding vehicle leaves the stopping point region, it being possible to establish this by determining the direction of travel of the vehicle when it passes over a loop. As regards early announcement of approaching stopping points and opportunities to change, it is naturally within the framework of the invention to dispose the conductor loops slightly in advance of the stopping points so that passengers wishing to alight have enough time to prepare. Through a combination of a mileage recorder and a stopping point number store in which the stopping points along the line are stored, it is possible for the next stopping point to be announced after leaving one stopping point or conductor loop. The stopping point device may be battery operated. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A system for transmitting information for passengers on local public transport vehicles, wherein a respective transmittingand receiving device is installed in the vehicle and in the region of a stopping point, and at least the stopping point device has an information store containing information as to the identity of the stopping point and any opportunities to change to other vehicles, and the route numbers thereof, at the stopping point, and interrogatable by signal from the vehicle device; and wherein the stopping point device comprises an induction loop fixed in the roadway, through which transmission from that device to the vehicle device and transmission from the latter to the stopping point device are effected.

2. A system as claimed in either of claim 1, in which the information store of the stopping point device may be switched on and/or interrogated by pulses from the vehicle device.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the system comprises information means for indicating the information transmitted to the vehicle device optically or acoustically in the vehicle.

4. A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the route number of the vehicle is stored in the vehicle device for transmission to the stopping point device.

5. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the vehicle device has a ferrite antenna to receive signals transmitted from the stopping point device and to radiate signals thereto.

6. A system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which a route number stored in the stopping point device is cleared therefrom after a specific period of time.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6, in which clearance of the route number is effected by the relevant vehicle driving over the induction loop.

8. A system as claimed in any of the

previous claims, in which the stopping point device is battery-operated.

9. An information system for a local public transport vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.