BE1020853A3 - CONTROL WITH MEMORY FOR AN ELECTRIC ADJUSTABLE MOTORCYCLE WINDSCREEN. - Google Patents

Description

Control with memory for an electrically adjustable motorcycle windshield

Description

A number of motorcycles are equipped with an electrically adjustable windshield while driving, in order to be able to adjust the most comfortable position, depending on the speed driven, the physique of the driver, the traffic and the weather conditions.

Some examples of this are (non-exhaustive list): 1. At high speed, the driver will often place the windshield high enough to be able to just look over it but still sit out of the wind, without annoying turbulence around the head.

2. At low speed and / or in heavy traffic, the driver will often prefer a low position, so that the roadway is clearly visible shortly before the motorcycle without having to look through the possibly dirty screen.

3. In rainy weather glasses wearers will try to position the screen in such a way that no or less raindrops splash on their glasses or visor.

4. Driving with or without a passenger can also require a different height of the windshield.

The situation may change regularly during one and the same motorcycle ride. The driver must then set the correct height again and again.

When using such a motorcycle windshield that can be adjusted while driving, the driver will determine over time that for him personally a number of positions are ideal and he will involuntarily search for these ideal positions again and again.

For this, he must experiment and adjust again and again with the adjustment knobs until the windscreen is at the desired height again. This can take several seconds, whereby the attention for the traffic can be weakened because the driver pays too much attention to the height setting and the minor corrections to be made until the windscreen is in good condition again.

This invention consists of an electronic control, equipped with the classical control to move the screen to the ideal position, but supplemented with an electronic height measurement and one or more memory control elements which: - A / on the one hand can be used as an adjustment key, the that moment selected height is measured by the electronic circuit and the result of the measurement of which is stored in a permanent or non-permanent electronic memory, and B / on the other hand can be used to return the windshield to a preset height in A /, with one brief order via the relevant ministry.

These control keys can be separated, one key to be adjusted per desired height setting and a second key to go back to that height, but can also be combined into one key, where, for example, for a long operation the setting is stored in the memory and where the electronics are briefly operated, the windshield returns to the previously set position.

Typically, a minimum of 2 height settings will have to be stored, namely a high position and a low position, but it is possible to add additional options such as fully up or completely below, or with passenger and without passenger.

By using this invention, both the comfort for the driver and the safety increases. After all, the driver only has to give one short boost to get his windshield to the desired preset position and can therefore pay full attention to the traffic.

Existing systems on the market:

There are already motorcycles with a limited memory for the windshield, but these are limited to bringing the windshield back to a known position at that time after the engine has been stopped and restarted. Afterwards, while driving, it is the driver who again has to set the desired height with the buttons and therefore has to keep pressing the buttons until he thinks he has found the correct height again.

One possible way to realize this control is the use of a linear variable resistor or potentiometer that has a certain resistance mechanically coupled to the windshield depending on a certain height of the screen. This potentiometer can, for example, be built into the linear actuator motor that pushes the screen up or pulls it down. Instead of a potentiometer it is also possible to use other less sensitive measuring instruments such as an optical or magnetic pulse counter, a so-called encoder, etc.

The heart of the system may, for example, consist of an AVR microprocessor such as the Atmel Atmega328 microprocessor chip. This AVR already contains the necessary analogue digital converter to convert the value of the variable resistors into a digital value, which in turn can be stored in the permanent EEPROM memory of the AVR.

The AVR chip has multiple digital input ports that can be connected to the controls for the driver. A simple control button could, for example, consist of an APEM 1000 Joystick microswitch that can pull the input ports of the AVR low during operation via a 1 K ohm resistor.

Eventually the AVR chip will still have to be able to power the motor in both directions of rotation in order to make the windshield rise or fall. To this end, the AVR can, for example, be linked to a so-called H-Bridge such as, for example, the Toshiba TB6612FNG motor driver that produces a so-called Pulse Width Modulation whereby speed, direction of rotation and electronic brake can be set.

Of course, the AVR must also be equipped with the necessary software that constantly reads the controls (the APM Joystick in the example above), reads the height of the screen (from the potentiometer in the example) and takes the necessary decisions to turning the windshield up or down and then blocking it at the desired height. This software can easily be written in eg Bascom or in C ++ with the AVR Studio software package.

This invention can be applied to both production of new motorcycles as standard equipment or as an option. In addition, this invention can also be applied as an accessory to be added to existing motorcycles.

Claims (6)

Claims 1 / An electronic circuit which - on the one hand, on the command of a momentary switch with the function "setting", measures the then prevailing height of the coupled motorcycle windshield and subsequently stores the measured value in a permanent or non-permanent memory, and - on the other hand, at the command of a second momentary switch with the function "recall", measures the current prevailing height of the coupled motorcycle windscreen and then compares the measured value with the relevant stored measured value to then decide in which direction the motors of the wind screen must turn to bring the screen back to the same as the set height and then power the motors in the direction decided above, until the desired height of the wind screen is reached. 2 / as described in 1 / but then provided with several keys and memory positions, so that several positions can be stored and recalled afterwards. 3 / As described in 1 / and 2 / but the moment switches for setting and calling are brought together in one moment switch which responds as one of the two keys, depending on the duration of operation measured by the electronic circuit described in 1 / set with long activation and calls with short activation. 4 / As described in 1 /, 2 / and 3 / but with the addition of a function that can detect the impossibility of reaching the target while automatically moving the screen up or down to the preset value, eg obstruction or defect , to prevent damage to electronics, motors, mounting parts and windshield. 5 / As described in 1 /, 2 /, 3 / and 4 / but where multiple moment switches are contained in one module such as a joystick that can be moved in different directions and where specific directions of movement evoke certain functions of the circuit. 6 / As described in 1 /, 2 /, 3 /, 4 / and 5 / but where the memory functionality and required electronics are contained in the on-board computer of the motorcycle and where the operation takes place via display and operating modalities of the on-board computer.