CA2555104A1 - Segmented brake light - Google Patents
Segmented brake light Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2555104A1 CA2555104A1 CA 2555104 CA2555104A CA2555104A1 CA 2555104 A1 CA2555104 A1 CA 2555104A1 CA 2555104 CA2555104 CA 2555104 CA 2555104 A CA2555104 A CA 2555104A CA 2555104 A1 CA2555104 A1 CA 2555104A1
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- circuit
- voltage
- light
- module
- brake light
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
- B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
- B60Q1/44—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal
- B60Q1/441—Electric switches operable by the driver's pedals
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
- B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
- B60Q1/44—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal
- B60Q1/444—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal with indication of the braking strength or speed changes, e.g. by changing shape or intensity of the indication
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60T—VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES
- B60T17/00—Component parts, details, or accessories of power brake systems not covered by groups B60T8/00, B60T13/00 or B60T15/00, or presenting other characteristic features
- B60T17/18—Safety devices; Monitoring
- B60T17/22—Devices for monitoring or checking brake systems; Signal devices
Abstract
A segmented brake light has a detecting module (10) mounted in a vehicle near a brake pedal (100), a driving module connected to the detecting module (10) and multiple light modules (31,32,33) controlled by the driving module. The detecting module (10) detects the pressures on the brake pedal (100) to output signals to the driving module. The driving module based on the received signals to start the respective one or multiple light modules (31,32,33). Accordingly, other car drivers in the rear of the vehicle can recognize that whether the vehicle is going to brake.
Description
= i L RACKCrROtrN'1'} OF THEMMhlTION
2 I. Field of the Invention 3 The present invention relates to a segmented brake light, and more particularly 4 to a brake light composed of multiple light modules that are selectively and progressively activated according to different pressure a driver stepped on the brake 6 pedal.
7 2. Description of Related Art 8 A top-installed rear brake light near the rear windshield in a vehicle is usually 9 started when the driver is stepping on a brake pedal to wam other people behind the !o vehicle to avoid any collision.
11 How the top-installed rear brake light works is often determinedd by the 12 sensitivity of the brake light and a driver's behaviors. A high sensitivity light can be 13 easily activated with a small pressure when the driver slightly steps on the brake pedal.
14 However, the driver may just move the feet to the brake pedal as a preparatory action for braking, not mean to brake the car. Comparing to the high sensitive operations, a 16 low sensitively brake light requires a deep stepping or high pressure on the brake 17 pedal. For other drivers behind the car, they may have no sufficient time in emergency 18 brakes. The complete turm-off and turn-on operations of a conventional light are unable 19 to provide other drivers with a good pre-warning effect.
However, to produce a top-installed rear brake light that can display multiple 21 effects according to different statuses, some complex factors such as modifying 22 original circuits in the vehicle may discourage consumers from equipping the vehicle 23 with such a brake light.
24 Therefore, the present invention provides a new segmented brake light to 1 overcome the foregoing drawbacks.
2 SIIMMAR F TNR iNV-ENTION
3 The objective of the present invention is to provide a segmented brake light 4 that can selectively one or multiple light modules according to different pressure a driver steps on a brake pedal thus showing other vehicles with more sufficient braking 6 information without changing original circuits in the vehicle.
7 The segmented brake light has a detecting module mounted in a vehicle near a 8 brake pedal, a driving module connected to the detecting module and multiple light 9 modules controlled by the driving module. The detecting module detects pressure on a brake pedal of the vehicle to produce a detecting signal based on the detected pressure.
11 The driving module produces a driving signal according to the detecting signal from 12 the detecting module. The multiple light modules connected to the driving module are 13 selectively started according to the driving signal.
14 Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with 16 the accompanying drawings.
17 BR IRF D IP'L-ION OF TI-T. D AWiNGS
18 Fig. 1 is a schematic of a detecting module in accordance with the present 19 invention being mounted near a brake pedal;
Fig. 2 is a front cross sectional view of the detecting module of Fig. I in 21 accordance with the present invention;
22 Fig. 3 is a side cross sectional view of the detecting module of Fig. I in 23 accordance with the present invention;
24 Fig. 4 is an operational cross sectional view of the detecting module;
1 Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of a voltage switching circuit in accordance with the 2 present invention;
3 Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram of a driving module in accordance with the present 4 invention;
Figs. 7 to 9 show different examples of the arrangements of the light modules 6 in accordance with the present invention.
7 DETAIC-FD I7E IP ION OF THE PRF.FF.R1tF.i~F1V[BnI7i ,1VjF.Pr( 8 A segmented brake light in accordance with the present invention is composed 9 of a detecting module, a driving module and multiple light modules. With reference to Fig. 1, the detecting module (10) is mounted at a position near a brake pedal (100) in a 11 vehicle to produce detecting signals in response to different pressures on the brake 12 pedal (100). In this embodiment, the detecting module (10) connects to a power source 13 and produces voltage signals of different levels output to the driving module when the 14 brake light is pressed.
With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the detecting module (10) comprises a hollow 16 tube (11), an actuator assembly (12) in the tube (11), an elastic element (13), two 17 resilient contacts (14) and a stopper (15).
18 The hollow tube (11) has an open end and a bottom end with a hole (l10) 19 defined through the bottom end, wherein the stopper (15) is filled in the open end.
The actuator assembly (12) in the hollow tube (11) includes a circuit board 21 (124), a shaft (120) with one end jointed to the circuit board (124) and extending 22 through the hole (110) of the hollow tube (11). Another end of the shaft (120) abuts 23 against the brake pedal (100) in such a way that the shaft (120) can extend out of the 24 hollow tube (11) or draw back into the tube (11) depending on whether or not the 1 brake pedal (100) is stepped. The circuit board (124) has multiple pairs of metal 2 contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (121~t, 122B, 123B) formed on its opposite surfaces.
3 These metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (121B, 122B, 123B) are connected to a 4 voltage switching circuit, which will be discussed later.
A spring used as the resilient element (13) in this embodiment is mounted in 6 the hollow tube (11) and abuts between the circuit board (124) and the stopper (15).
7 With the resilient force of the spring, the shaft (120) can be push out of the tube (11).
8 The two resilient contacts (14) are mounted on the stopper (15) to be contacted 9 with the metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (12IB, 122B,123B) on the circuit board (124).
11 If the driver does not step on the brake pedal (100), the shaft (120) of the 12 actuator assembly (12) stays in the hollow tube (11) because the brake pedal (100) 13 provides pressure against the shaft (120). Since the two resilient contacts (14) do not 14 touch any metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A)(121B, 122B, 123B), the detecting module (10) does not output any voltage signal.
16 With reference to Fig. 4, when the brake pedal (100) is pressed, the shaft (12) 17 is gradually drew out from the hollow tube (11) as the stepping force on the brake 18 pedal (100) increases. As the shaft (120) moves, the two resilient contacts (14) 19 sequentially touch the metal contacts (121A, 121B) (122A, 122B) (123A, 123B) to produce and output different voltage signals.
21 With reference to Fig. 5, how the two resilient contacts (14) touch different 22 pairs of the metal contacts (121A, 121B) (1 22A, 122B) (123A, 123B) to produce 23 voltage signals of different levels can be represented by the equivalent circuit.
24 Two diodes (DI, D2) are connected in series to form a three-path voltage 1 switching circuit. A voltage (12V) supplied from a battery in the vehicle is connected 2 to the anode of the first diode (D 1) and a second terminal, wherein the second terminal 3 is regarded as the first set of the metal contacts (121A, 121B). The node between the 4 first diode (D 1) and the second diode (D2) is used as a third terminal, wherein the third 5 terntinal is regarded as the second set of the metal contacts (122A,122B).
The cathode 6 of the second diode is used as a fourth terminal that is regarded as the third pair of 7 metal contacts (123A, 123B). When the brake pedal (100) is not stepped, the actuator 8 assembly (12) does not produce any voltage signal so there is no output signal at the 9 output terminal, denoted with "SOURCE".
First, when the bt ake pedal (100) is slightly stepped, the two resilient contacts i l (14) respectively touch the first set of metal contacts (121A, 121B), as a result, a 12 voltage signal of 12 volts is directly output from the output terminal (SOURCE).
13 Secondarily, when the resilient contacts (14) subsequently touch the second set 14 of the metal contacts (122A, 1228), the voltage is output to the brake light through the first diode (D 1). The voltage value at the output terminal (SOURCE) is about 11.3 16 volts.
17 Finally, if the resilient contacts (14) tough the third set of the metal contacts 18 (123A, 123B), the output voltage through the two diodes (Dl, D2) is about 10.6 volts.
19 Based on the different voltage signals, the driving module accordingly activates the respective light modules. The output terminal "SOURCE" is connected to the circuit 21 of pig. 6.
22 With reference to Fig. 6, the driving module comprises three voltage boosting 23 circuits (21, 22, 23), a first comparing circuit (24) and a second comparing circuit (25).
24 Each of the voltage boosting circuit (21, 22, 23) has a power input terminal I (pin 6), an output terminal (pin 1) and a trigger termina,l (pin 5). The power input 2 terminals connect to the detecting module (10) to receive an operating voltage (VCC) 3 from a Darlington driving circuit in the first comparing circuit (24). The output 4 terminals of the voltage boosting circuit (21, 22, 23) are respectively connected to three light modules (31, 32, 33). Each light module (31, 32, 33) comprises at least one 6 light string formed by multiple light emitting diodes connected in series.
7 The input terminal of the Darlington driving circuit is connected to the output 8 terminal(SOURCE) of the detecting module (10). The output terminal of the 9 Darlington driving circuit is used as an operating voltage (VCC) output terminal. The ~irst comparing circuit (24) provides an output terminal to connect to the trigger 11 terminal of the second voltage boosting circuit (22). In the first co,mparing circuit (24), 12 a comparator (LT04A) has two input terminals respectively connected to two RC
7 2. Description of Related Art 8 A top-installed rear brake light near the rear windshield in a vehicle is usually 9 started when the driver is stepping on a brake pedal to wam other people behind the !o vehicle to avoid any collision.
11 How the top-installed rear brake light works is often determinedd by the 12 sensitivity of the brake light and a driver's behaviors. A high sensitivity light can be 13 easily activated with a small pressure when the driver slightly steps on the brake pedal.
14 However, the driver may just move the feet to the brake pedal as a preparatory action for braking, not mean to brake the car. Comparing to the high sensitive operations, a 16 low sensitively brake light requires a deep stepping or high pressure on the brake 17 pedal. For other drivers behind the car, they may have no sufficient time in emergency 18 brakes. The complete turm-off and turn-on operations of a conventional light are unable 19 to provide other drivers with a good pre-warning effect.
However, to produce a top-installed rear brake light that can display multiple 21 effects according to different statuses, some complex factors such as modifying 22 original circuits in the vehicle may discourage consumers from equipping the vehicle 23 with such a brake light.
24 Therefore, the present invention provides a new segmented brake light to 1 overcome the foregoing drawbacks.
2 SIIMMAR F TNR iNV-ENTION
3 The objective of the present invention is to provide a segmented brake light 4 that can selectively one or multiple light modules according to different pressure a driver steps on a brake pedal thus showing other vehicles with more sufficient braking 6 information without changing original circuits in the vehicle.
7 The segmented brake light has a detecting module mounted in a vehicle near a 8 brake pedal, a driving module connected to the detecting module and multiple light 9 modules controlled by the driving module. The detecting module detects pressure on a brake pedal of the vehicle to produce a detecting signal based on the detected pressure.
11 The driving module produces a driving signal according to the detecting signal from 12 the detecting module. The multiple light modules connected to the driving module are 13 selectively started according to the driving signal.
14 Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with 16 the accompanying drawings.
17 BR IRF D IP'L-ION OF TI-T. D AWiNGS
18 Fig. 1 is a schematic of a detecting module in accordance with the present 19 invention being mounted near a brake pedal;
Fig. 2 is a front cross sectional view of the detecting module of Fig. I in 21 accordance with the present invention;
22 Fig. 3 is a side cross sectional view of the detecting module of Fig. I in 23 accordance with the present invention;
24 Fig. 4 is an operational cross sectional view of the detecting module;
1 Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of a voltage switching circuit in accordance with the 2 present invention;
3 Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram of a driving module in accordance with the present 4 invention;
Figs. 7 to 9 show different examples of the arrangements of the light modules 6 in accordance with the present invention.
7 DETAIC-FD I7E IP ION OF THE PRF.FF.R1tF.i~F1V[BnI7i ,1VjF.Pr( 8 A segmented brake light in accordance with the present invention is composed 9 of a detecting module, a driving module and multiple light modules. With reference to Fig. 1, the detecting module (10) is mounted at a position near a brake pedal (100) in a 11 vehicle to produce detecting signals in response to different pressures on the brake 12 pedal (100). In this embodiment, the detecting module (10) connects to a power source 13 and produces voltage signals of different levels output to the driving module when the 14 brake light is pressed.
With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the detecting module (10) comprises a hollow 16 tube (11), an actuator assembly (12) in the tube (11), an elastic element (13), two 17 resilient contacts (14) and a stopper (15).
18 The hollow tube (11) has an open end and a bottom end with a hole (l10) 19 defined through the bottom end, wherein the stopper (15) is filled in the open end.
The actuator assembly (12) in the hollow tube (11) includes a circuit board 21 (124), a shaft (120) with one end jointed to the circuit board (124) and extending 22 through the hole (110) of the hollow tube (11). Another end of the shaft (120) abuts 23 against the brake pedal (100) in such a way that the shaft (120) can extend out of the 24 hollow tube (11) or draw back into the tube (11) depending on whether or not the 1 brake pedal (100) is stepped. The circuit board (124) has multiple pairs of metal 2 contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (121~t, 122B, 123B) formed on its opposite surfaces.
3 These metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (121B, 122B, 123B) are connected to a 4 voltage switching circuit, which will be discussed later.
A spring used as the resilient element (13) in this embodiment is mounted in 6 the hollow tube (11) and abuts between the circuit board (124) and the stopper (15).
7 With the resilient force of the spring, the shaft (120) can be push out of the tube (11).
8 The two resilient contacts (14) are mounted on the stopper (15) to be contacted 9 with the metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A) (12IB, 122B,123B) on the circuit board (124).
11 If the driver does not step on the brake pedal (100), the shaft (120) of the 12 actuator assembly (12) stays in the hollow tube (11) because the brake pedal (100) 13 provides pressure against the shaft (120). Since the two resilient contacts (14) do not 14 touch any metal contacts (121A, 122A, 123A)(121B, 122B, 123B), the detecting module (10) does not output any voltage signal.
16 With reference to Fig. 4, when the brake pedal (100) is pressed, the shaft (12) 17 is gradually drew out from the hollow tube (11) as the stepping force on the brake 18 pedal (100) increases. As the shaft (120) moves, the two resilient contacts (14) 19 sequentially touch the metal contacts (121A, 121B) (122A, 122B) (123A, 123B) to produce and output different voltage signals.
21 With reference to Fig. 5, how the two resilient contacts (14) touch different 22 pairs of the metal contacts (121A, 121B) (1 22A, 122B) (123A, 123B) to produce 23 voltage signals of different levels can be represented by the equivalent circuit.
24 Two diodes (DI, D2) are connected in series to form a three-path voltage 1 switching circuit. A voltage (12V) supplied from a battery in the vehicle is connected 2 to the anode of the first diode (D 1) and a second terminal, wherein the second terminal 3 is regarded as the first set of the metal contacts (121A, 121B). The node between the 4 first diode (D 1) and the second diode (D2) is used as a third terminal, wherein the third 5 terntinal is regarded as the second set of the metal contacts (122A,122B).
The cathode 6 of the second diode is used as a fourth terminal that is regarded as the third pair of 7 metal contacts (123A, 123B). When the brake pedal (100) is not stepped, the actuator 8 assembly (12) does not produce any voltage signal so there is no output signal at the 9 output terminal, denoted with "SOURCE".
First, when the bt ake pedal (100) is slightly stepped, the two resilient contacts i l (14) respectively touch the first set of metal contacts (121A, 121B), as a result, a 12 voltage signal of 12 volts is directly output from the output terminal (SOURCE).
13 Secondarily, when the resilient contacts (14) subsequently touch the second set 14 of the metal contacts (122A, 1228), the voltage is output to the brake light through the first diode (D 1). The voltage value at the output terminal (SOURCE) is about 11.3 16 volts.
17 Finally, if the resilient contacts (14) tough the third set of the metal contacts 18 (123A, 123B), the output voltage through the two diodes (Dl, D2) is about 10.6 volts.
19 Based on the different voltage signals, the driving module accordingly activates the respective light modules. The output terminal "SOURCE" is connected to the circuit 21 of pig. 6.
22 With reference to Fig. 6, the driving module comprises three voltage boosting 23 circuits (21, 22, 23), a first comparing circuit (24) and a second comparing circuit (25).
24 Each of the voltage boosting circuit (21, 22, 23) has a power input terminal I (pin 6), an output terminal (pin 1) and a trigger termina,l (pin 5). The power input 2 terminals connect to the detecting module (10) to receive an operating voltage (VCC) 3 from a Darlington driving circuit in the first comparing circuit (24). The output 4 terminals of the voltage boosting circuit (21, 22, 23) are respectively connected to three light modules (31, 32, 33). Each light module (31, 32, 33) comprises at least one 6 light string formed by multiple light emitting diodes connected in series.
7 The input terminal of the Darlington driving circuit is connected to the output 8 terminal(SOURCE) of the detecting module (10). The output terminal of the 9 Darlington driving circuit is used as an operating voltage (VCC) output terminal. The ~irst comparing circuit (24) provides an output terminal to connect to the trigger 11 terminal of the second voltage boosting circuit (22). In the first co,mparing circuit (24), 12 a comparator (LT04A) has two input terminals respectively connected to two RC
13 circuits, which are formed by resistors (X29, R3 1) and capacitors (C11, C
12). The 14 capacitance of the two capacitors are different, wherein capacitor (C12) is much smaller than capacitor (C11). The two RC circuits all connect to the operating voltage 16 (VCC). Because the two RC circuits have different RC constants, the charge and 17 discharge speeds of the two RC circuits are not identical. Accordingly, the output 18 voltage level of the comparator (LJ04A) is determined by the voltage levels at its two 19 input terminals. The output signal of the comparator (U04A) is used to determ.ine whether the voltage boosting circuit (22) should be driven to start the second light 21 module (32).
22 The second comparing circuit (25) has an input terminal connected to the 23 operating voltage (VCC) output frorn the detecting module through a PNP
transistor 24 (Q02). The base of the transistor (Q02) is connected to the output terminal of the first 1 comparator (U04A), while the collector is connected to the power input terminal of the 2 voltage boosting circuit (23). The emitter of the PNP transistor (QU2) connects to the 3 operating voltage (VCC). The PNP transistor (Q02) determines whether the input 4 terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the voltage boosting circuit (23) should connect to the operating voltage (VCC).
The 6 output voltage level of the first comparing circuit (24) determines whether the 7 transistor (Q02) should be turned on. If the output voltage is at a high level, the second 8 voltage boosting circuit (22) will not be triggered, the second light module (32) does 9 not operate and the transistor (QU2) is turned off.
When the first comparing circuit (24) outputs a low voltage level signal, the 11 second voltage boosting circuit (22) is triggered to drive the second light module (32).
12 The transistor (Q02) is turned on and the operating voltage (VCC) is output to the 13 input terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the 14 voltage boosting circuit (23). Depending on the output signal of the second comparing circuit (25), the third voltage boosting circuit (23) determines whether the third light 16 module (33) should be turned on.
17 The second comparing circuit (25) includes a comparator (IJ05B) and two RC
18 circuits connected to two input terminals of the comparator (UO5B). The two RC
19 circuits are composed of resistors (R39, R4 1) and capacitors (C13, C 14) with different capacitance. The different charge and discharge constants of the two RC
circuits 21 determine the output status of the comparator (U05B). The comparator (U05B) further 22 controls whether the third voltage boosting circuit (23) should be driven to turn on the 23 third light module (33). To have distinct lighting effects between the first light module 24 (31) and the second light module (32), an oscillating circuit (26) is connected between $
I the second comparing circuit (25) and the third voltage boosting circuit (23) to control 2 the third light module (33) operated in a flash mode.
3 When the driver slightly steps on the brake pedal (100), the detecting module 4 (10) generates a first voltage signal of 12 volts as discussed above. The voltage signal of 12 volts is input to the Darling driving circuit from the terminal (SOURCE). The 6 operating voltage (VCC) hereinafter is deemed as the same as the voltage signal at 7 terminal (SOURCE) because the voltage drop of the transistor (QO1) in the laarlington 8 driving circuit can be omitted. The voltage (VCC) is supplied to the ftrst voltage 9 boosting circuit (21) to drive the first light module (31). Because the positive input terminal has a higher input voltage that the negative input terminal, the first comparing i l circuit (24) output a high-level voltage signal. Tle second voltage boosting circuit (22) 12 will not be triggered. Since the second and third voltage boosting circuits (22, 23) are 13 not triggered, the second and third light module (32)(33) accordingly will not be 14 turned on.
When the driver presses the brake pedal (100) deeper, the output voltage from 16 the detecting module (10) becomes 11.3 volts. Because the capacitor (C12) has the 17 smaller capacitance than (C 11), the voltage level at the positive input terminal of the 18 comparator (U04A) drops quicker than the negative input terminal.
Therefore, the 19 comparator (U04A) outputs a low-level voltage signal. The second voltage boosting circuit (22) is triggered to turn on the second light module (32). The tiransistor (Q02) 21 also conducts to allow the operating voltage (VCC) to be transmitted to the input 22 terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the third 23 voltage boosting circuit (23).
24 Finally, when the driver further increases the pressure and completely steps on I the brake pedal (100), the detecting module (10) outputs a voltage signal of 10.6 volts 2 as discussed above. Similar to the first comparator (UO4A), the voltage change at the 3 input terminals of the second comparartor (U058) results in a low level signal to 4 trigger the third voltage boosting circuit (33) to drive the third light module (33).
With reference to Figs. 7 to 9, to produce distinct lighting effects, the three 6 light modules (31, 32, 33) can be different in their colors or arrangements.
For 7 example, the light modules (31, 32, 33) can be designed to produce white, yellow and 8 red colors respectively and mounted on a display board (40) to form parallels, a 9 triangular or a fan-shaped con$guration. Because the detecting module (10) produces the detected signals, i.e. the voltage signals, based on the voltage variation, original 11 circuits in the vehicle do not need changed.
12 Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention 13 have been set forth in the foregoing deScription, together with details of the structure 14 and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the 16 principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of 17 the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
12). The 14 capacitance of the two capacitors are different, wherein capacitor (C12) is much smaller than capacitor (C11). The two RC circuits all connect to the operating voltage 16 (VCC). Because the two RC circuits have different RC constants, the charge and 17 discharge speeds of the two RC circuits are not identical. Accordingly, the output 18 voltage level of the comparator (LJ04A) is determined by the voltage levels at its two 19 input terminals. The output signal of the comparator (U04A) is used to determ.ine whether the voltage boosting circuit (22) should be driven to start the second light 21 module (32).
22 The second comparing circuit (25) has an input terminal connected to the 23 operating voltage (VCC) output frorn the detecting module through a PNP
transistor 24 (Q02). The base of the transistor (Q02) is connected to the output terminal of the first 1 comparator (U04A), while the collector is connected to the power input terminal of the 2 voltage boosting circuit (23). The emitter of the PNP transistor (QU2) connects to the 3 operating voltage (VCC). The PNP transistor (Q02) determines whether the input 4 terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the voltage boosting circuit (23) should connect to the operating voltage (VCC).
The 6 output voltage level of the first comparing circuit (24) determines whether the 7 transistor (Q02) should be turned on. If the output voltage is at a high level, the second 8 voltage boosting circuit (22) will not be triggered, the second light module (32) does 9 not operate and the transistor (QU2) is turned off.
When the first comparing circuit (24) outputs a low voltage level signal, the 11 second voltage boosting circuit (22) is triggered to drive the second light module (32).
12 The transistor (Q02) is turned on and the operating voltage (VCC) is output to the 13 input terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the 14 voltage boosting circuit (23). Depending on the output signal of the second comparing circuit (25), the third voltage boosting circuit (23) determines whether the third light 16 module (33) should be turned on.
17 The second comparing circuit (25) includes a comparator (IJ05B) and two RC
18 circuits connected to two input terminals of the comparator (UO5B). The two RC
19 circuits are composed of resistors (R39, R4 1) and capacitors (C13, C 14) with different capacitance. The different charge and discharge constants of the two RC
circuits 21 determine the output status of the comparator (U05B). The comparator (U05B) further 22 controls whether the third voltage boosting circuit (23) should be driven to turn on the 23 third light module (33). To have distinct lighting effects between the first light module 24 (31) and the second light module (32), an oscillating circuit (26) is connected between $
I the second comparing circuit (25) and the third voltage boosting circuit (23) to control 2 the third light module (33) operated in a flash mode.
3 When the driver slightly steps on the brake pedal (100), the detecting module 4 (10) generates a first voltage signal of 12 volts as discussed above. The voltage signal of 12 volts is input to the Darling driving circuit from the terminal (SOURCE). The 6 operating voltage (VCC) hereinafter is deemed as the same as the voltage signal at 7 terminal (SOURCE) because the voltage drop of the transistor (QO1) in the laarlington 8 driving circuit can be omitted. The voltage (VCC) is supplied to the ftrst voltage 9 boosting circuit (21) to drive the first light module (31). Because the positive input terminal has a higher input voltage that the negative input terminal, the first comparing i l circuit (24) output a high-level voltage signal. Tle second voltage boosting circuit (22) 12 will not be triggered. Since the second and third voltage boosting circuits (22, 23) are 13 not triggered, the second and third light module (32)(33) accordingly will not be 14 turned on.
When the driver presses the brake pedal (100) deeper, the output voltage from 16 the detecting module (10) becomes 11.3 volts. Because the capacitor (C12) has the 17 smaller capacitance than (C 11), the voltage level at the positive input terminal of the 18 comparator (U04A) drops quicker than the negative input terminal.
Therefore, the 19 comparator (U04A) outputs a low-level voltage signal. The second voltage boosting circuit (22) is triggered to turn on the second light module (32). The tiransistor (Q02) 21 also conducts to allow the operating voltage (VCC) to be transmitted to the input 22 terminal of the second comparing circuit (25) and the power input terminal of the third 23 voltage boosting circuit (23).
24 Finally, when the driver further increases the pressure and completely steps on I the brake pedal (100), the detecting module (10) outputs a voltage signal of 10.6 volts 2 as discussed above. Similar to the first comparator (UO4A), the voltage change at the 3 input terminals of the second comparartor (U058) results in a low level signal to 4 trigger the third voltage boosting circuit (33) to drive the third light module (33).
With reference to Figs. 7 to 9, to produce distinct lighting effects, the three 6 light modules (31, 32, 33) can be different in their colors or arrangements.
For 7 example, the light modules (31, 32, 33) can be designed to produce white, yellow and 8 red colors respectively and mounted on a display board (40) to form parallels, a 9 triangular or a fan-shaped con$guration. Because the detecting module (10) produces the detected signals, i.e. the voltage signals, based on the voltage variation, original 11 circuits in the vehicle do not need changed.
12 Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention 13 have been set forth in the foregoing deScription, together with details of the structure 14 and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the 16 principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of 17 the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims (10)
1. ~A segmented brake light for a vehicle, comprising:
a detecting module detecting pressure on a brake pedal of the vehicle to produce a detecting signal based on the detected pressure;
a driving module producing a driving signal according to the detecting signal;
and multiple light modules connected to the driving module to be selectively started according to the driving signal.
a detecting module detecting pressure on a brake pedal of the vehicle to produce a detecting signal based on the detected pressure;
a driving module producing a driving signal according to the detecting signal;
and multiple light modules connected to the driving module to be selectively started according to the driving signal.
2. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 1, the driving module comprising:
multiple voltage boosting circuits, each of the voltage boosting circuit having a power input terminal, an output terminal and a trigger terminal, wherein the output terminals are respectively connected to the light modules;
a first comparing circuit having an input terminal connected to the detecting module and an output terminal connecting to the trigger terminal of one of the voltage boosting circuits; and a second comparing circuit having an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the first comparing circuit through an electronic switch that connects to the detecting module and the power input terminal of another one of the voltage boosting circuits.
multiple voltage boosting circuits, each of the voltage boosting circuit having a power input terminal, an output terminal and a trigger terminal, wherein the output terminals are respectively connected to the light modules;
a first comparing circuit having an input terminal connected to the detecting module and an output terminal connecting to the trigger terminal of one of the voltage boosting circuits; and a second comparing circuit having an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the first comparing circuit through an electronic switch that connects to the detecting module and the power input terminal of another one of the voltage boosting circuits.
3.~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 2, both of the first comparing circuit and the second comparing circuit having a comparator with two input terminals that respectively connect to two RC circuits, wherein the RC circuits have different capacitance and further connect to an operating voltage.
4. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electronic switch is a PNP transistor with a base connected to the output terminal of the first comparing circuit and a collector connected to the power input terminal of one of the voltage boosting circuits and the input terminal of the second comparing circuit.
5. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 2, wherein an oscillating circuit is connected between the second comparing circuit and one of the boosting voltage circuits and controls the light module driven by the boosting voltage circuit to flash.
6. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 2, wherein the input terminal of one of the voltage boosting circuits is directly connected to the output terminal of the detecting module to control a first one of the light modules.
7. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 6, the detecting module comprising:
a tube having one end with a stopper;
an actuator assembly mounted in the tube and comprising a circuit board, a shaft mounted to the circuit board and protruding from the tube to move backward and forward along the tube, and multiple metal contacts formed on the circuit board to connect to a voltage switching circuit;
a resilient element mounted in the tube to abut against the circuit board to allow the shaft being movable backward and forward along the tube;
two resilient contacts connected to a driving module and mounted on the stopper to touch the multiple metal contacts on the circuit board.
a tube having one end with a stopper;
an actuator assembly mounted in the tube and comprising a circuit board, a shaft mounted to the circuit board and protruding from the tube to move backward and forward along the tube, and multiple metal contacts formed on the circuit board to connect to a voltage switching circuit;
a resilient element mounted in the tube to abut against the circuit board to allow the shaft being movable backward and forward along the tube;
two resilient contacts connected to a driving module and mounted on the stopper to touch the multiple metal contacts on the circuit board.
8. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 7, wherein the voltage switching circuit uses two diodes to form multiple paths that touch the metal contacts on the circuit board.
9. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in any of the claims I to 6, wherein each of the multiple light modules comprises at least one light string composed of multiple light emitting diodes connected in series.
10. ~The segmented brake light as claimed in claim 9, wherein the multiple light modules are mounted on a board to form different shapes.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2555104 CA2555104A1 (en) | 2006-08-04 | 2006-08-04 | Segmented brake light |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2555104 CA2555104A1 (en) | 2006-08-04 | 2006-08-04 | Segmented brake light |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2555104A1 true CA2555104A1 (en) | 2008-02-04 |
Family
ID=39030905
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2555104 Abandoned CA2555104A1 (en) | 2006-08-04 | 2006-08-04 | Segmented brake light |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2555104A1 (en) |
-
2006
- 2006-08-04 CA CA 2555104 patent/CA2555104A1/en not_active Abandoned
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Dead |