EP2008259B1 - Vehicle impact warning device - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle impact warning apparatus for installation in a motor vehicle includes a deceleration sensor, for detecting vehicle decelerations in a direction approximately parallel to a carriageway, and a switch that can be activated by the deceleration sensor. The switch, by way of a radio transmitter, is able to initiate an electromagnetic warning signal and a warning signal as a visible warning signal and/or as an acoustic warning signal.

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle impact warning device for installation in a motor vehicle, comprising a deceleration sensor through which delays are detected approximately parallel to the road surface and a switch activatable therefrom, via a radio transmitter, a first electromagnetic radio warning signal and a warning signal as a visual warning signal and / or an acoustic warning signal can be triggered and a radio receiver, by which the warning signal can also be activated by a similar radio warning signal of a radio transmitter from another, impacting motor vehicle and in a second reaction stage, a second radio warning signal can be activated.

In road traffic, there are numerous accidents only as a result of a recent accident already occurred. The primary cause of the accident is the lack of information provided by the following road users about the accident that took place in the immediate vicinity in front of them a short time ago, without having received this information in a timely manner. In the run-up to these so-called "secondary accidents", it is a particularly typical and frequent pattern of behavior that a motorist assumes that the vehicles driving in front of him will move forward as evenly in the near and near future as they have previously done. The driver extrapolates the experience of a uniform and continuous flow of traffic to the behavior of the road user driving in front of him and is therefore often traveling with too little attention and / or too small a distance and / or too high speed.

If an accident occurs in this situation, which blocks the road suddenly, is in subsequent drivers in many cases the reaction time is too long and / or the stopping distance is too short until the next road user is approaching in the direction of travel and / or the own driving speed is too high in relation to these boundary conditions. In such a situation, numerous, so-called "rear-end collisions" arise. These rear-end collisions are not only a great loss for the involved vehicles and their drivers and passengers, but can also be life-threatening. Another damage which can also be specifically assessed in its impact is the time loss incurred by all road users due to reduced travel speed and / or waiting breaks. Added to this are the emotional burdens caused by the unscheduled delay and waiting time or the sight of the scene of the accident.

For this reason, larger accidents are detected by the relevant institutions according to the state of the art of the broadcasters and broadcast at regular intervals as a voice message and sent as a corresponding coded detour recommendation to equipped navigation systems. In addition, warning devices will be set up at a certain distance in front of the accident site and / or police officers will be posted to warn the following travelers.

In addition, the accident information stored in this way can be retrieved from suitable radio receivers as a voice signal and / or navigation devices set up for this purpose as text information on a display.

The serious disadvantage of these information systems, however, is the dramatic time lag between the onset of the accident and the information of the following drivers arises. In particular, those drivers are strongly disadvantaged who have not followed the accident vehicle in such a short distance that they could follow the course of the accident by their own inspection, but are driven at such a great distance that they by other vehicles and / or Curves of the road and plants growing in between, terrain surveys or buildings could no longer directly follow the accident, but have moved so close to the sudden by the delayed reactions of driving ahead drivers (shock seconds) and too short distances of the vehicles with each other In turn, it slows down at least a heavy braking, in many cases forcing emergency braking, and in some cases, after recognizing the need for a sudden deceleration, leaves them with insufficient room on the road.

Another disadvantage of the recent accident information about broadcasting news is that it offers willing drivers and passengers no reason to act shortly after the accident because of the large time delay.

Another serious weakness of currently common accident information systems is that always at least one, purely manually operated level of information input and information transfer is turned on in the information chain.

According to known and commonly used prior art only surveillance cameras are in large places with a continuous monitoring of sent by her to a central office images As a method usual to trigger an accident report as soon as possible.

Out DE 197 53 511 (Zlatko ) is in principle the message of a braking known, which is emitted directly from the vehicle itself as a radio signal and received by radio receivers in other vehicles and can be converted into a warning message. This message only goes as far as the respective radio transmitter allows. The transmitter must therefore deliver a high field strength and is therefore expensive. However, this runs contrary to the principle required, as complete as possible equipment of all vehicles. Another disadvantage is that the received signal does not provide an estimate of the respective distance.

FR 73 28951 (Gendrot ) describes the cascading passing on of an accident report from vehicle to vehicle, but does not give any practicable method for how the number of transfers can be determined exactly. The disadvantage is that either the reasonable minimum distance for the transmission of the message is not reached or that the message is carried over a much too large distance, thereby evoking the risk of inflation of the messages.

Against this background, the invention has the object to provide a device that is installed in the motor vehicle, and detected at the earliest possible date the onset of an impact and all in the same direction and with an adjustable, maximum distance behind the vehicle crashed, Warns other vehicles, the device automatically passes a received warning to other, similar devices.

It is thought of distances of the order of a few kilometers, so that the accident vehicle is located outside the audible or audible range. The warning should also be able to be passed on if a line of sight is restricted or interrupted by darkness, rain, snow, fog or other adverse weather conditions.

However, the warning should also be given visually and acoustically.

By simple construction with known components a low price and high reliability and thus a very wide dissemination is to be achieved.

As a solution, the invention proposes a vehicle collision warning, in which the second radio warning signal is recognizable by an additional information for all radio receivers as the second.

These functions can be implemented cost-effectively and reliably on the basis of the components available in the current state of the art by means of a simply constructed electronic device: All presently common deceleration sensors consist of a moving mass which, in the case of most types, is subject to a crash due to their inertia the housing of the sensor moves something, this movement counteracts a continuously increasing force, which is usually applied by a mechanical spring.

Also known are variants in which a ball is held by a magnetic field in a certain position and is moved in proportion to the delay by a certain distance from the zero point out.

All types of deceleration sensors typically detect a threshold of the order of 3 to 5 g. The message of exceeding this limit is triggered either by the fact that the mass itself makes contact or that the mass changes an electrical capacitance or inductance, which is evaluated with a suitable electronic circuit.

All crash sensors are designed to activate an electrical contact when reaching the limit value, either directly or via a power semiconductor, with which additional consumers can be switched on. This switch can be designed as an electronic switch, that is, as a second, larger power semiconductor. However, all the usual forms of relays are also possible.

As soon as the acceleration limit specified by the deceleration sensor is exceeded, the switch closes and thereby activates both a warning signal and a radio transmitter. As a warning signal visual warning signals are possible, so all the signals that cause visible to the vehicle, optical change and / or acoustic signals, ie all forms of noise or the change of noise that are audible by other road users.

In the simplest variant, a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention serves for a crashed vehicle to emit a warning signal which is acoustically or optically noticeable and additionally radiates a radio signal. The first group of warning signals enables all persons within sight or earshot of the accident vehicle are on the one hand, the occurrence of an accident ever notice and second, the location of the accident can localize immediately and thus quickly and reliably recognize even from a distance, which of several vehicles has suffered an accident.

In this case, the vehicle crash warning device is suitable for all types of vehicles, such as e.g. for cars, trucks, buses, motorhomes, tractors, construction vehicles, agricultural vehicles, military vehicles and also for safety-sensitive motorcycles in principle. Since the risk of personal injury in motorcycles is in principle higher than in vehicles with closed bodies, the recovery of assistance by the vehicle impact warning device is a particularly important advantage of the invention.

Also an application for fast watercraft, e.g. Motor boats on busy waterways makes sense.

In this simplest design, all road users in sight and earshot are clearly informed that the vehicle in question has fallen victim. An advantage is that the information is passed on immediately after the impact. Another advantage is that the accident becomes identifiable even for those who neither saw nor heard the accident nor heard it but could not see it.

This function can also be valuable for other drivers following directly behind the accident vehicle, since an impact with the front of a vehicle is possible, which is not easily recognizable and / or noticeable on the rear side.

In addition, the accident vehicle "signals" by activating a radio signal. In the simplest case, this is a single electromagnetic wave that is radiated continuously. The required transmission block is available according to current state of the art at low prices and accordingly available in a design as a safety device with increased demands on operating temperature range, corrosion resistance and shock sensitivity at a cost that are hardly worth mentioning compared to the total price of a motor vehicle.

For the recording of such a simple accident report are always the institutions responsible, which already record the latest state of the art manually transmitted accident reports. In many cases these are the accident control centers of the police, fire brigade and other civil protection organizations of public law.

Also conceivable, however, are private institutions that provide a vehicle collision warning as equipment of motor vehicles, a stationary infrastructure such as the radio receivers and the facilities for identifying the accident location, as well as at least the initialization, but in a further expansion stage also the implementation of assistance and offer rescue measures.

An advantage of the vehicle impact warning device is its small size. A prototype equipped with a loudspeaker, a volume control, a warning button, a pilot lamp, a key-operated switch and a loudspeaker is housed in a casing of about 115 mm in length, 35 mm in height and 60 mm in width and weighs just 250 grams.

For this functionality, it makes sense to extend the vehicle impact warning in an expansion stage so that it automatically sends its current location to the parent rescue organization. In the current state of the art, the reception and the evaluation of the GPS signals (Global Positioning System) serve this purpose. Standard low-cost chips receive signals from three geostationary satellites, from which they calculate the coordinates of the position and pass them on to the radio transmitter, which emits them immediately together with the radio alarm signal. This information not only informs the responsible control center that an accident has occurred, but also where it occurred.

This information can be expanded in various stages of development. Relatively easy to obtain are the signals of a so-called seat recognition. It allows conclusions about how many people could be on the seats of the accident vehicle.

If, in a further variant, the number of occupied seats is detected before and after the accident, it can be deduced from the seats no longer or apparently additionally occupied after the accident that the position of the vehicle occupants has changed as a result of the accident and / or additional objects get on the seats, which allows a first assessment of the severity of the accident.

As further information, the detection of the delay value is conceivable, since proportional to the peak value of the delay, further damage to the vehicle and its occupants are to be lamented.

The next stage of development is the detection of other, in addition still in the vehicle existing crash sensors conceivable. For example, how many and which airbags have been triggered and whether there are sensors on the vehicle that had to suffer higher peak acceleration values than other sensors, that is, signal a particularly badly damaged area of the vehicle, could be transmitted.

Likewise, the evaluation of the sensors of the Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) of the vehicle is conceivable, thereby transmitting the position of the vehicle after the accident, so to report a possible rollover or overturning of the vehicle to the control center.

As an additional feature, it is conceivable that the vehicle crash warning activates a present in the vehicle, mobile phone and dials a designated for this emergency number. As a result, the detection of the location of the accident vehicle is possible as an alternative to GPS and with appropriate equipment and the establishment of a voice connection between the relevant accident center and the vehicle occupants.

Alternatively, the transmission unit of a mobile telephone can be installed in the vehicle crash warning device. Their function can be limited to the fact that they send in an emergency after dialing a special emergency number only a standardized accident report. This accident report is used to detect the accident and indirectly to determine the accident location by localizing the mobile transmitting unit of at least two receiving stations. This saves the installation of an additional GPS system.

All the above-described functions of the radio transmitter are then particularly safe and trouble-free to differentiate from other signals in radio communications, if only for this purpose a very specific frequency is provided. The invention prefers the frequency of 433.92 MHz or 868 MHz.

Even in a simple variant, it makes sense to upgrade the vehicle impact warning by a manually operable button to a mobile emergency call system. It should be avoided by suitable design of the actuator accidental or playful activity by children as possible. It would be conceivable, for example, the input of a specific number of digits or the operation of two simultaneously activated facilities.

An alternative is a security lock with a removable key.

As another essential function, the object of the invention includes the direct warning of other vehicles, in particular the trailing. For this purpose, the vehicle impact warning device according to the invention includes a radio receiver, which is provided for receiving a radio warning signal from the radio transmitter of another, accident vehicle. This opens up the possibility that, beyond the limits of visibility and / or audibility, the accident vehicle passes on its message without the detour via and without the time delay through a central accident registration office directly to subsequent road users. Since the criterion of exceeding an acceleration limit value is a clear characteristic for the occurrence of an accident, in contrast to a manual accident report, the direct and unfiltered transmission to other road users makes sense and is helpful.

Since the previously emitted by a vehicle in an emergency situation outward signals are limited to the brake light and the hazard warning lights of most vehicles must be turned on manually, such accident signal that is delivered in relation to the process of the accident in real time, for directly following Road users already in the seconds and fractions of seconds after an impact advantage, especially in cases where an already occurred impact to the rear is not directly visible, but only indirectly such. B. is recognizable by falling or flying vehicle parts, by rising smoke or by a skid of the vehicle accident, all of these features are secondary and only come with a time delay. In comparison, the impact message is given by the radio signal so early that under certain circumstances, the subsequent driver is given time to avoid an impact, or at least mitigate an impact can.

Since the message of an accident for vehicles in front is only peripherally of interest, for directly subsequent but of vital importance, the invention proposes that the signal from the radio transmitter preferably only to the rear of the vehicle at a certain angle is radiated.

To activate this limitation, an additional switch can be provided on the device. Alternatively, a speed-dependent activation is conceivable.

In the same sense, the additional radio receiver should receive priority from the front seen in the direction of travel of the vehicle incoming signals. This will spread accident reports on actually unaffected vehicle crash warning advantageously greatly restricted.

In order to make the radio warning signals received by a radio receiver noticeable to the driver, a warning signal must also be triggered as a visual warning signal and / or an acoustic warning signal. For this purpose, it is conceivable that a lamp on the vehicle crash warning itself, a warning light on the dashboard and / or a display in the field of vision of the driver is illuminated to inform the driver in the interior. In addition, it makes sense to activate in this case, the hazard warning lights of the vehicle and its brake lights, so that other road users are warned, the vehicle does not have a suitable radio receiver.

With the activation of the hazard warning system and the designated indicator light is activated in the field of vision of the driver, which may alternatively account for the visual warning signal in the device of the vehicle impact warning.

As an alternative or in addition to the visual warning signal, the vehicle impact warning device according to the invention can also trigger acoustic warning signals. This includes the vehicle horn and / or the muting of all speakers in the vehicle of audio systems.

As another alternative, these speakers may be used to output a sound signal, unless the vehicle crash warning device has its own loudspeaker and / or its own other sound generating device.

Sounds are conceivable as sound signals, which sound either evenly or can be changed in volume or varied in pitch are. In the simplest variant, a single tone is enough. Also conceivable are multi-tone signals. A possible alternative is, for example, the reproduction of the reserved for emergency sounds of sirens' horns, so the regular change of two tones whose frequency is at a distance of a fourth to each other as defined in DIN 14610, or the sound of a siren.

In addition, a blue light may flash in the driver's field of vision.

Since the accident report for the directly following vehicles of particularly high importance, but decreases with increasing distance from the vehicle accident in its importance, it makes sense to limit the range of the radio signal. The most proven and simplest means of limiting the range is a limitation of the transmission power. Although varies with the same power depending on the reflections in the environment and depending on the to be penetrated by the radio signals to the media range, but the effort for a power limitation is relatively low and helps above all, that by choosing the smallest possible components and the cost be reduced.

In order to be able to warn vehicles at low power but also at a greater distance to the accident vehicle, as is useful, especially on motorways and highways, the invention proposes that when receiving a first radio warning signal by a vehicle crash warning in a second reaction stage, a second radio alert emit is.

In this case, the invention recommends that the second radio warning signal can be recognized by additional information for all radio receivers as a second signal. Because in practice the signals are given priority radiated to the rear and preferably received from the front, the information is passed through the marking as a second signal that the accident happened while close to the receiver, but that the distance in cases where the first radio signal has not been received is, but only a second, the distance to the accident must be at least as large as the average range of the transmitter, but not greater than twice the range of the radio transmitter.

In a continuation of this idea, when receiving a second radio warning signal, the radio transmitter can emit a third warning signal, so that the information chain is extended counter to the direction of travel to vehicles approaching the scene of the accident. However, the length of this chain should be limited to a reasonable level d. H. So after receiving a certain number of casually passed accident reports to subsequent vehicles no further accident signal will be passed on.

It is conceivable that an estimated value for the distance to the accident site is calculated from the number of cascaded radio alarm signals and the medium range and displayed to the driver.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the radio receiver may additionally receive radio information signals which should be used above all for information which is relevant for the road users located behind an injured motor vehicle. Examples are instructions like "making a lane!" Or "driving to the right edge!" or "accident ahead". Also conceivable are the Passing on search queries like "doctor wanted" or "volunteer wanted".

For installation of a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention, the invention proposes mounting on the rear parcel shelf below the rear window or on the dashboard. Advantages of these positions are that radio signals can be transmitted and received unhindered through the glass panes of the vehicle. A further advantage is that experience has shown that this area of motor vehicles is the last to be damaged, so that the vehicle impact warning device is still undamaged even after serious accidents. Alternatively, the device could also be mounted on the boot lid or on the vehicle roof.

Also conceivable are all other locations in the vehicle, which are suitable for installation of electronic components, provided that an unhindered transmitting and receiving antenna is provided.

Of course, it is conceivable to evaluate the already existing in numerous vehicles crash sensors on the existing electrical network of the vehicle so that they trigger the visual warning signals and acoustic warning signals according to the invention on the vehicle in a crash. In this configuration, then only an additional transmitting and receiving unit would be added. Although there are state-of-the-art, z. B. for mobile telephony, radio transmitter and receiver on board numerous vehicles, but with the disadvantage of only limited availability, which is why it is to be classified as the special merit of the invention, in the interest of the best possible reliability for its own frequency and a separate device demand.

The formation of a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention as a separate unit results in a higher redundancy of the vehicle warning system and thus also an increased probability of the availability of a warning in the event of severe and extremely serious accidents.

The standalone configuration, used as a standardized part by different vehicles from different manufacturers, offers the opportunity for very large volume production with increased insensitivity to extreme operating temperatures down to - 20 ° and up to + 70 °, against extreme delays above the threshold of 3 - 5 g out as well as against environmental influences, in particular humidity up to constant condensation and the immersion in water in an accident.

In an advantageous configuration, a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention should be equipped with a small accumulator which is regularly recharged by the vehicle electrical system during normal operation of the vehicle and still ensures minimum functionalities of the vehicle collision warning in the event of a failure of the on-board voltage network. These include - in this priority - sending a radio warning signal, closing a relay or other normally open contact and outputting a warning signal. With the relay such warning devices are activated after the accident, which still have access to a ready power supply.

In the event that the electrical system of the vehicle fails completely in the accident, the invention proposes that the device itself has audible warning device, such as a speaker and / or in particular elements with a very good efficiency such. As a piezoelectric transducer and / or highly efficient lighting elements such. B. LEDs (LEDs).

For the practical realization of a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention, the invention prefers the construction of a possibly autonomous device in the sense of maximum availability. However, it is also conceivable integration into other, often present in motor vehicles electronic assemblies such as players for sound carriers. Or in radio receivers, television receivers or navigation devices. In these cases, it would be an economic advantage to use their radio receiver with.

Equally conceivable and economically advantageous would be the integration with electronic assemblies that also need to send, such. B. Straßenbenutzungskotrollgeräte, radiotelephones or navigation devices that rely on external data sources on an ongoing basis.

Also possible and useful is the installation of a vehicle impact warning device according to the invention into a stationary emergency call column. Activation of the emergency call station not only sends a warning message to nearby vehicles, but also issues an accident warning to the road maintenance or other institution that receives the emergency call.

As a further advantageous embodiment, a vehicle impact warning can be extended by the function of an accident data memory. Particularly interesting is the storage of kinematic and acoustic data of the accident vehicle from the triggering of the deceleration sensor and in a further stage even from a certain period of time directly before the accident event. This combination is appropriate because the vehicle crash warning is a particularly robust and robust assembly, which is preferably grown in a relatively safe installation location.

The invention proposes that the radio-warning signals, the visual warning signals and the acoustic warning signals are emitted only for a limited, adjustable time, for example 5 to 10 minutes. The advantage of this limitation is that the frequency range reserved for emergencies is charged as little as possible and that the disturbance of other, uninvolved road users and residents, in particular by the acoustic warning signal to the necessary minimum is limited.

As a further advantageous embodiment, the invention proposes that the vehicle impact warning device can emit at least three different acoustic warning signals. It makes sense that the acoustic warning signal with the highest volume can be triggered directly and free of manual interruption possibilities of the deceleration sensor. This greatly reduces the possibility of tampering with the warning device and increases operational safety by involving as few parts as possible.

A further advantageous equipment variant is that the warning signal also includes a voice signal. This opens up numerous possibilities for more differentiated information about the reported event. Since modern vehicles are already equipped with warning tones very numerous, is a linguistic message, eg. B. by the word attention a meaningful distinction. Such a short language reserve can with little effort in the English Word attention the French word attention or the Italian word attentione be transferred.

A further, the practical utility very enhancing device are Wamtasten, by the operation of each an additional voice signal is emitted for "obstacle on the road" and / or "broken down vehicle" and / or "animals on the road" and / or "wrong-way driver" and / or another specific hazard situation. This makes it possible, unfortunately, to pass on frequently occurring dangerous situations in good time to affected motorists in the immediate vicinity. An alternative for the communication of this information in the receiving vehicle is in addition to the voice message lighting a text or a Pictogrammes, which can be designed as an operating switch for the own transmission of this information at the same time.

If the vehicle crash warning device is equipped to transmit and / or receive at radio frequencies intended for use by regionally-competent institutions for use in motor vehicle accident assistance or even reserved exclusively, the additional use provides itself as a receiver for information and / or instructions to these institutions. It is conceivable that z. B. the vehicle impact warning of authorized transmitters and authorized institutions to receive control commands, which are then displayed as a pictogram and / or in a display and / or can be emitted as a voice signal. Examples are: "make a lane!" and / or "drive to the far right!" and / or "Stop!" and / or "turn!" and / or "ambulance" and / or "police" and / or "customs" and / or "fire department" and / or "emergency vehicle".

As already mentioned, the control signal for activating a warning sound in the interior of the vehicle can be sent over such a frequency that resembles the sound of the Martinhorn, so a Tonfolgeanlage as z. B. is described in DIN 14610. In addition to this acoustic signal, a blue light on the dashboard or in the field of vision of the driver can flash, which not only increases the attention value, but also the legal requirement z. B. for Germany is satisfied that the emergency vehicle only enjoys unlimited right of way, when the blue flashing light and siren are activated simultaneously.

A particularly valuable additional equipment is an inventive vehicle impact warning in the same form for motorcycles. Since many motorcyclists succumbed to their injuries after an accident only because they were so far removed from the road by the accident that their vehicle was no longer visible from the road so that they could not be granted much needed help in time , An inventive vehicle impact warning for a motorcycle is not only useful information for subsequent road users, but also a very valuable help message with the urgent request for immediate help.

So that a vehicle collision warning can be reliably attached to a motorcycle, the invention proposes, as a variant, that the vehicle collision warning device is installed in a housing which has two mutually parallel elongate webs on one outer side and at least one metal closure or rail over these webs is tensioned, which is aligned transversely to the webs. With the two parallel aligned Webs, the housing can be placed on a tube of the frame of the motorcycle and clamped on the other side with the metal closure on the frame tube. This makes retrofitting possible with the mechanical strength offered for the impact sensor.

For an all-time availability of this housing should be splash and splash proof.

Alternatively, the metal closure can be designed as a quick-release closure, so that the use of a vehicle impact warning system is possible alternately in several vehicles. Thus, e.g. the motorcyclist also use his vehicle crash warning in his car.

To avoid false reports due to parking bumps and gusts of wind, it makes sense that the message of the crash sensor is detected only from a minimum speed. The invention suggests a reasonable value for a minimum speed of a range of about 55 km / h.

In the following, further details and features of the invention will be explained in more detail by way of examples. However, these are not intended to limit the invention, but only to explain. 1 shows a schematic representation of the schematic diagram of a rear-end collision and the transmission of warning signals.

In FIG. 1 are a total of three motor vehicles 1 shown in the side view as a vehicle outline. Of these three motor vehicles 1, a second motor vehicle 2 has been driven onto the first motor vehicle 1, recognizable by the deformations in the rear of the first motor vehicle and the folds in the front part of the second motor vehicle 1.

In the second and in the third motor vehicle 1, a vehicle collision warning is shown schematically in each case in the area of the parcel shelf. It consists in the lower part of the switch 3 with the triggering deceleration sensor 2. Also in the assembly of the vehicle impact warning of the radio transmitter 4 is integrated, which emits a first radio warning signal 41 on the rear opposite to the direction of travel of the vehicles on impact. As a result, it encounters the following motor vehicle 1 and reaches the radio receiver 6, which activates the switch 3 and thus then triggers a second radio warning signal 42, which is received by other vehicles in the vicinity.

Because in the accident, middle motor vehicle 1 as well as in the subsequent, third motor vehicle 1 each of the switch 3 is active, a visual warning signal 51 is triggered in each case, in the example shown, the hazard warning lights of the vehicle. It is also conceivable activation of the brake lights, tail lights, driving lights or side lighting.

In addition, each activated an acoustic warning signal 52, the z. B. is emitted through the horn.

In FIG. 1 It is understandable how the vehicle that has suffered an accident radiates a first radio warning signal 41, which is received in the following motor vehicle 1 and there triggers a second radio warning signal 41, which in turn radiates to the rear. becomes. This is the linkage of multiple vehicles in a cascaded alert chain possible, which despite a limited range of the radio transmitter 4 still allows the early warning of a large number of subsequent traffic participants over a distance that is many times longer than the range of a single vehicle impact warning.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

motor vehicle

2

Delay sensor installed in a car 1

3

Switch, triggered by deceleration sensor 1

4

Radio transmitter can be triggered by switch 3

41

first radio warning signal, sent from radio transmitter 4 in the crash of the first car

42

second radio warning signal transmitted from the second radio transmitter 4 in a second vehicle upon receiving the first radio warning signal 41

5

Warning signal, either as a visual warning signal 51 and / or as an acoustic warning signal 52

51

Visual warning signal, triggered by the deceleration sensor 2 via switch 3

52

Acoustic warning signal triggered by deceleration sensor 2 via switch 3

6

Radio receiver for receiving the radio alarm signals 41 and / or 42

Claims (18)

1. Vehicle impact warning device for installation in a motor vehicle 1, comprising a deceleration sensor 2, by means of which decelerations in a direction approximately parallel to the roadway can be detected and a switch 3 that can be activated by the deceleration sensor, by means of which

   - a first electromagnetic radio warning signal 41 via a radio transmitter 4, and

   - a warning signal 5 either as a visible warning signal 51 and/or as an acoustic warning signal 52 can be triggered, and a radio receiver 6, by means of which

   - the warning signal 5 can also activated by a similar radio warning signal 41 of a radio transmitter 4 from another, impacting motor vehicle 1, and

   - in a second reaction stage, a second radio warning signal 42 can be activated

   characterised in that the second radio warning signal 42 is recognizable as a second signal by additional information for all radio receivers 6.
2. Vehicle impact warning device according to claim 1, characterised in that, on reception of a second radio warning signal 42 by a radio receiver 6, a third radio warning signal 42 can be transmitted.
3. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each radio warning signal 42, on reception, can be transmitted by a radio receiver 6 as a further radio warning signal, which propagates in a cascade over a plurality of vehicle impact warning devices up to a particular number of reaction stages.
4. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the number of radio signals transmitted in a cascade can be displayed for a current received radio signal.
5. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the radio transmitter 4 only emits a radio warning signal in a restricted angle at the reverse side, as seen in the travel direction, of the impacting motor vehicle 1.
6. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that

   - at least three different acoustic warning signals 52 can be activated and

   - the acoustic warning signal 52 with the greatest sound volume can be initiated directly and free of manual interruption by the deceleration sensor 52 and

   - one of three acoustic warning signals 52 can be reserved for the police or another institution having authority on the road.
7. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has at least one emergency warning button, with which a warning signal 5 in each case can be initiated, which may also include a voice signal, for example

   - the German word "Achtung" and/or

   - the English word "attention" and/or

   - the French word "attention" and/or

   - the Italian word "atencione" and/or

   - obstruction on the carriageway and/or

   - stationary vehicle and/or

   - animals on the carriageway and/or

   - wrong-way driver and/or

   - another specified hazard situation.
8. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it also transmits and/or receives on radio frequencies that are reserved for regionally authorized institutions for use in road accident assistance and moreover information and/or instructions can be received and can be converted into optical and/or acoustic signals, which are representable as a pictogram and/or as a text on a display and/or can be transmitted as voice signals, for example

   - "clear a path!" and/or

   - "drive at the right!" and/or

   - "stop!" and/or

   - "turn around!" and/or

   - "ambulance" and/or.

   - "police" and/or

   - "customs" and/or

   - "fire service" and/or

   - "emergency vehicle"
9. Vehicle impact warning device according to the preceding claim 8, characterised in that radio signals can be received, which activate a particular tone sequence, such as that according to DIN 14610 colloquially called a "Martin horn" and at the same time a blue flashing light can additionally be switched on.
10. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the transmission power of the radio transmitter 4 is limited to a particular threshold value.
11. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the radio receiver 6 can receive additional radio information signals, by means of which information can be conveyed that is relevant for road users behind a motor vehicle 1 that has been involved in an accident.
12. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is additionally equipped for receiving public broadcasts and/or public television.
13. Stationary emergency telephone station, characterised in that a vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims is installed therein and when a radio warning signal is received, the highway maintenance department or another appropriate institution can be activated.
14. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is additionally useable as road-use control equipment and/or a radio telephone and/or navigation equipment, and /or

    - the geographical position of the motor vehicle 1 and/or

    - information about the seats of the motor vehicle 1 occupied before and after the accident can be transmitted.
15. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that kinematic and/or acoustic data of the vehicle that has experienced the accident from the initiation of the deceleration sensor and/or from a particular time span thereafter can be stored and retrieved again after the accident.
16. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it can register the current speed of the vehicle and emit a warning signal only above a minimum speed value, for example 45 km/h to 50 km/h.
17. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the transmission unit of a mobile telephone is additionally installed,

    - by means of which an emergency telephone number can be dialled in an emergency, and

    - a standardised accident report can be transmitted and/or

    - further data from other sensors of the motor vehicle 1 can be transmitted.
18. Vehicle impact warning device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is designed as a stand-alone module, which can be equipped

    - via a flexible cable, with a standardised plug, for example a plug for a cigarette lighter and/or

    - an own rechargeable battery for the power supply.

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