AU750167B2

AU750167B2 - Window alert

Info

Publication number: AU750167B2
Application number: AU48868/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Pierre Cantarakis; Kamil Nader
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-03-24
Filing date: 2000-07-26
Publication date: 2002-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 2020-03-24
Also published as: AU4886800A; AU722646B3

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): PIERRE CANTARAKIS KAMIL NADER Invention Title: WINDOW ALERT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 Window Alert Technical Field The present invention concerns an apparatus for providing status information about a vehicle.

Background of the Invention Vehicle safety awareness has led to the introduction of systems which provide a warning signal when a vehicle door is not closed properly, or when a passenger's seat belt is not fastened. However, there is no disclosure in the prior art of a system for alerting a driver or passenger as to the status of windows in the vehicle.

Summary of the Invention 15 The present invention provides a signalling device for signalling when a window in a vehicle is at least partly open, comprising a signal generator arranged to provide a warning signal which is detectable by a user *o o inside the vehicle, the signal generator being arranged to generate more than one type of signal, the type of signal generated being dependent on a status of the vehicle. The signal may be detectable outside the vehicle.

By signalling when a window of a vehicle is at least S"partly open, a driver of the vehicle may be reminded to close the window before driving away, thereby avoiding an unsafe situation in which the driver attempts to reach across or to the rear of the vehicle to close a window.

The vehicle may comprise any vehicle having windows which can be opened, such as a car, truck, van, bus, train, tra, aeroplane, etc. The window may have an opening and closing mechanism such as a manually-operated winding device, or a motorised winding device.

3 The warning signal may be in the form of one or more of the following types of signals: acoustic; optical; or mechanical.

For example, when an ignition switch of the vehicle is switched on, the signal device generator may provide an optical signal, and when the ignition is switched off, the signal generator may provide an acoustic signal as well as an optical signal. The optical signal may be generated by a lamp, such as a light emitting diode (LED). The acoustic signal may be generated by a loudspeaker, or any other device capable of generating sound.

The signalling device may be arranged to provide an 15 optical signal with a lamp, and an acoustic signal with a piezoelectric beeper. A separate lamp may be provided for each window in the vehicle which can be opened. Each lamp e preferably corresponds to one window and is illuminated whenever the window is not completely closed. The lamps 20 can be used by a person such as a driver or passenger of a Svehicle to-detect whether a window is open, and to identify which window is open. When an acoustic signal is

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generated, a person can readily determine which window is S"open by inspecting the signalling device and identifying the corresponding illuminated lamp.

The acoustic signal may comprise any audible signal.

Preferably, the signal can be heard by a person in the vehicle whilst a motor in the vehicle is running. The signal may comprise one or more notes and the notes may have one or more pitches. The signal may be in the form of a tune. Alternatively, the signal may be in the form of a series of limited-duration sounds with pauses between sounds, and may be in the form of a repeating "beep".

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4 The signalling device preferably includes a detection means for detecting when a window is in an unclosed state.

The detection means may comprise a switch responsive to a window in an unclosed state.

The signalling device preferably comprises an override means for suppressing or switching off the warning signal. The override means may be used to enable a person to intentionally leave windows open in certain circumstances, such as when a vehicle is parked in secure locations. The signalling device may also include a control switch for controlling an acoustic mode of the device. In the acoustic mode, an acoustic signal is generated in addition to the optical signal whenever a window is at least partly open. The acoustic mode can be .15 switched on and off at will by predetermined users having access to the control switch.

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to 20 imply the inclusion of a stated element or integer or group of elements or integers but not the exclusion of any other element or integer or group of elements or integers.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, S"by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig 1 shows an embodiment of a signalling device according to the present invention.

Fig 2 is a circuit diagram for the signalling device shown in Fig 1.

Fig 3 is a circuit diagram showing connections to the signalling device shown in Fig 1.

5 Detailed Description of the Drawings An embodiment of a signalling device 10 for signalling when a window in a car is at least partly open will now be described with reference to Figs 1-3.

Electronic circuitry 20 for the signalling device 10 is housed within an outer casing 30 mounted at a point in the vehicle visible to a driver of the vehicle, such as on or within the dashboard of a car. The device can be factory-fitted into the car at the time the car is manufactured, or it can be an after-market accessory which can be installed in a car. A front face 40 of the outer casing 30 includes an optical display 50 for five opening windows in a car. The optical display comprises light S. 15 emitting diodes (LEDs) 60 which light up whenever a window in the car is opened. Each LED 60 corresponds to a different window in the car. In this embodiment, the five

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LEDs are labelled, from left to right, with the letters "FL" "RL" "RR" and and correspond to the 20 front left window, rear left window, tailgate window, rear *right window and front right window. The front face also includes an override button 70 for deactivating an audio alarm (not shown in Fig 1) housed inside the casing 30. -A bundle of cables 80 protrudes from a rear face of the outer casing 30 and includes connections to the windows, power, earth and the ignition of the car.

The operation of the signalling device 10 will now be described. Each of the LEDs 60 are connected on one side via a resistor 100 to a magnetic reed switch 110 for sensing the opening of a window. The reed switch 110 is arranged to be closed when the window is open and is designed for use with sliding windows, such as car door windows which can be wound up or down. A magnet (not 6 shown) is mounted on the window glass such that it slides past one of the reed switches 110 when the window glass is opened, triggering the reed switch 110 to close. The LEDs are powered by a 12 volt power supply 115 from the car.

A first relay switch 120 controls the voltage supplied to the LEDs 60 by switching the 12V supply 115. If the first relay switch 120 is closed, an LED 60 will light up whenever a reed switch 110 connected to the LED is closed due to an open window.

The override button 70 is connected to the first relay 120 via a digital latch 140 for the purpose of allowing a user to intentionally switch off the LEDs 110

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when one or more windows are open. The override button is in the form of a push-button. When the override button

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15 70 is depressed, a +12 volt pulse is sent to the digital latch 140 such that the latch is put into a first digital state, such as and the first relay switch 120 is caused to open. The latch 140 stays in the first digital state until the vehicle engine is started. Whilst the 20 vehicle is being started during cranking of the .motor), a starter signal 150 is sent to the latch 140, putting it into a second digital state, such as

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causing the first relay 120 to close. The starter signal 150 effectively resets the signalling device when the car is started. For example, if a user activates the override button 70 and thus switches off any warning signals, the starter signal 150 resets the device 10 such that warning signals will again be generated if a window is opened.

The signalling device 10 also includes an audio signal generator in the form of a piezo beeper 160. A second relay switch 170 connects the +12 volt supply 115 to the piezo beeper 160. The second relay 170 is also connected to an ignition voltage supply 180 from the car.

7 The ignition voltage 180 is +12 volts and the second relay 170 is arranged to be open whenever the ignition voltage 180 is non-zero, i.e. whenever the ignition of the car is switched on. In other words, the second relay 170 switches off the +12 volt supply 115 to the piezo beeper 160 whenever the ignition is switched on, thereby disabling the beeper. The purpose of this feature is to avoid distracting a driver with an audio signal while the car is running. When the ignition is switched off, the second relay 170 closes and supplies +12 volts to a positive terminal 190 of the piezo beeper 160. Each of the reed switches 110 is connected via a diode 200 to a negative terminal 210 of the piezo beeper 160. Since all of the reed switches 110 have a connection 220 directly to 15 earth, the piezo beeper circuit is completed whenever the first and second relays 120, 170 are closed at the same time that a reed switch 110 is closed. The +12V supply 115 to the piezo beeper 160 is also controlled by the first relay 120, so the piezo beeper 160 is disabled as 20 well as the LEDs 60 whenever the override button 70 is *pressed.

It will be understood that more complex types of sound generators may be used instead of the piezo beeper S"160 described in the above embodiment. For example, an electronically-generated tune or a magnetic recording of a tune may be amplified by a loudspeaker and used as an audio warning signal. Mechanical signals may also be incorporated into the signalling device. For example, solenoids may be activated to raise a coloured element such as a flag to indicate an open window.

It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific 8 embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

*ee*

Claims

1. A signalling device for signalling when a window in a vehicle is at least partly open, comprising a signal generator arranged to provide a warning signal which is detectable by a user inside the vehicle, the signal generator being arranged to generate more than one type of signal, the type of signal generated being dependent on a status of the vehicle.

2. The signalling device according to claim 1, wherein the signalling device further comprises an override means for suppressing or switching off the warning signal.

3. The signalling device according to either claim 15 1 or claim 2 wherein the warning signal comprises an acoustic signal and an optical signal, the acoustic signal being automatically inhibited when an ignition of the vehicle is switched on. *u o4. The signalling device according to claim 3 in 20 combination with claim 2 wherein the override means is arranged to suppress or switch off the acoustic signal only.

5. The signalling device according to either claim 3 or claim-4 wherein the signalling device includes one or more lamps for generating the optical signal.

6. The signalling device according to claim wherein the one or more lamps comprise a separate lamp corresponding to each window in the vehicle which can be opened, each lamp being arranged to light up whenever a window corresponding to the lamp is in an unclosed state.

7. The signalling device according to any one of claims 3-6, wherein the signalling device includes a piezoelectric beeper for generating the acoustic signal. 10

8. The signalling device according to any one of claims 3-7 wherein the acoustic signal is in the form of one or more notes.

9. The signalling device according to any one of claims 3-7 wherein the acoustic signal is in the form of one or more beeps. The signalling device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the signalling device further comprises a detection means for detecting when a window of the vehicle is in an unclosed state.

11. A signalling device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 15 Dated this 25th day of July 2000 PIERRE CANTARAKIS and KAMIL NADER By their Patent Attorneys es go** GRIFFITH HACK g. 5