FR2853066A1 - Display device for displaying movement parameters of vehicle, has display unit associated to speed sensor, electronic processing circuits and power supply to indicate instantaneous speed amplitude and variation of speed - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a power supply (AL) associated to a battery of a vehicle. A display unit is situated at the rear of the vehicle to be viewed from outside. The display unit is associated to a speed sensor (C3), electronic processing circuits (MS, MD, CO, RI, UC) and the power supply in a manner so as to indicate instantaneous speed amplitude and a variation of a speed and/or stop distance. The power supply supplies power to the electronic processing circuits and the speed sensor.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for displaying parameters of

  movement of a vehicle, disposed at the rear thereof, from

  of information delivered by sensors installed on board said vehicle.

  It applies in particular, but not exclusively, to the display of the displacement parameters of any type of vehicle, whatever the motorization or propulsion mode, allowing the drivers of other vehicles following the aforementioned vehicle, to appreciate in real time the driving conditions defined by the presence of the above vehicle. It makes it possible to reduce the risk of collision, to better assess the conditions of avoidance and overtaking.

  It is known that many accidents are due to an imprecise and often insufficiently prompt assessment by the driver of the vehicle of the parameters of movement of the vehicle in front.

  Indeed, recent vehicles are equipped with devices that take into account the movement parameters of the vehicles themselves: * braking assistance in order to increase the impact on the braking mechanism, * declutching assistance so reduce the effort associated with declutching, * steering assistance in order to reduce the effort due to the change of direction, * taking into account any wheel locks following emergency braking, * taking taking into account possible slippages following a sudden change of direction, * taking into account possible adhesion defects of the vehicle on the ground, * parking assistance (radar, camera). 10 In addition, vehicles are equipped with summary devices indicating to the driver of the following vehicle: * the presence of the vehicle (position lights), * change of direction (orange flashing), 15 * braking (red light), and more recently: * backing up of the vehicle, * distress situation, * presence of fog. The driving of the vehicle is thus assisted and sometimes managed as such, disregarding the vehicle or vehicles which follow; the drivers involved in the movement of the preceding vehicle are assessed, essentially on the basis of their vision of the vehicle in front of them, which vision is supplemented by "all or nothing" type devices , and essentially rudimentary.

  A very large disparity therefore exists between the refinement of the assistance devices for driving the vehicle and the deprivation in terms of information, generated by said vehicle, intended for its environment, that is to say in this case. drivers of the following vehicles.

  The invention therefore aims to overcome this insufficiency of information generated by the vehicles and intended for vehicle drivers who follow the above vehicles by displaying the displacement parameters of said vehicles behind them.

  The parameters characterizing the movement of a vehicle are on the one hand the speed of said vehicle and the positive and in particular negative variation thereof.

  In order to achieve this result, the invention starts from the observation that there are 10 sensors on board vehicles allowing, with appropriate processing, the display, at the rear of the vehicle, of the amplitude of the speed, the amplitude of the variation of said speed (in particular the deceleration), the stopping distance, the vehicle parking conditions, as well as any symbol characterizing the above vehicle.

  Furthermore, the aforementioned processing of information from the sensors takes into account the flow of said information in order to optimize the corresponding flow of displayed data.

  The invention therefore involves in particular: e an engine status sensor (in operation or not), and / or * a braking sensor, and / or * a speed sensor, and / or * an injection sensor fuel, or current consumed (electric motor), and / or e a handbrake status sensor, and / or * a clutch status sensor, and / or * two multi-color displays, and / or * an electronic circuit for processing information from said sensors, and / or e an electronic circuit for controlling the displays, and / or * a switch for the brake lights and the hazard lights, and / or * means making it possible to record the data displayed, and / or * a supply circuit, associated with the vehicle battery, making it possible to supply the above-mentioned circuits and electronic means and the above-mentioned sensors.

  Advantageously, the alphanumeric display can be designed so as to allow a reading "in clear" of the speed of the vehicle, and / or the stopping distance, and / or of any symbol characterizing the aforesaid vehicle (speed limit, transport dangerous goods, bonded transport, stop sign, novice driver, ...); as for the light-emitting diode display, it may be designed so as to allow the visualization in analog form of the amplitude and of the sign of the variation of the speed of the above-mentioned vehicle.

  Thus, the combination of these so-called displays and their association with existing "all or nothing" type devices, will allow the driver of the vehicle following the above-mentioned vehicle: * to appreciate the displacement parameters in analog form and in real time of the aforesaid vehicle, namely, its speed, its acceleration, its deceleration, * to be informed of the nature of the context associated with said 20 analog information transmitted, namely a situation of fluid traffic, disturbed traffic, traffic suddenly interrupted .

  The invention further aims on the one hand to take advantage of the use of these sensors to inform other drivers of the conditions for stopping the aforementioned vehicle, the parking conditions, and on the other hand to record the information emitted by the displays; the recording of this information will allow it to be used in the event of an accident, shock, deterioration.

  It will thus make vehicle drivers aware of the risks linked to the speed of their vehicle, to braking conditions, and consequently to the distances to be respected in relation to the preceding vehicles.

  An embodiment of the invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a rear view of a vehicle equipped with the device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of the device according to the invention.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 is equipped by the manufacturer with lights arranged at the rear of the above-mentioned vehicle, referenced L2 15 relating to the brake indicator, red in color, and referenced L4 relating to the 'change of direction indicator, orange; the brake LI and change of direction indicator L3, located on the right wing of the vehicle are not shown.

  On the other hand, it comprises an alphanumeric display A2, placed on the rear bumper or on the hood of the rear boot, and a display Ai, in the form of a bar, placed at the level of the rear window or integrated in a spoiler.

  Thus the four indicators LI, L2, L3, L4, provided by the manufacturer, and the two displays Ai, A2, constitute the set of information transmitters enabling the driver of the vehicle following the above-mentioned vehicle 1 to know in time the displacement parameters of the above vehicle 1.

  The display A2 is a matrix, square or rectangular, made up of light-emitting diodes; each diode sequentially emits a light beam of different color: red, yellow or orange, green. The number of diodes will be sufficient to allow the display of upper and lower case numbers and letters. The assembly will be dimensioned in such a way that the reading of the characters can be carried out, under normal visibility conditions, in broad daylight, at a distance of 20 to 100 meters.

  The display Ai is a matrix, of elongated shape, made up of light-emitting diodes; each diode sequentially emits a light beam of different color: red, yellow or orange, green. The number of diodes will be sufficient to allow a "scrolling mode" to the right or to the left. The assembly will be dimensioned in such a way that reading 10 in fixed mode, in flashing mode, or in scrolling mode, can be carried out, in normal visibility conditions, in broad daylight, at a distance of 20 to 100 meters.

  The nature of the information transmitted by the above displays, the tolerance 15 on the speed of the vehicle, the color of the information displayed, the frequency of appearance of said information, the dimensions of the characters displayed, are configurable and therefore comply with European standards in force. , including those from the USA and Asia.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, the device according to the invention may include: * a set of sensors CI, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, associated with their respective interface II, I2, I3, I4 , I5, I6, * a display Ai, of elongated shape, associated with its interface I7, has a display A2, of rectangular shape, associated with its interface 19, * a switch C8, associated with its interface 18, * a bus of BD data comprising input / output ports, Pi, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9, PlO, * a central unit assembly comprising a static memory MS, 30 a dynamic memory MD, a counter ordinal CO, an instruction register RI and a calculation unit UC, * a mass memory MM, * a power supply AL.

  The memory MS, of EPROM type, contains the instructions and the corresponding addresses; this data, via a program bus, then enters the instruction register RI; this acts on the computing unit UC, containing a work register associated with the data bus BD; the dynamic memory MD, of RAM type, or block of registers for general use, transfers the data coming from the data bus BD, addressed by the instruction register 10 to the calculation unit UC.

  The BD data bus includes the input / output ports Pi, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9, associated respectively with the interfaces of the sensors Il, I2, 13, I4, I5, I6, interfaces 17, 18, 19.

  The interfaces I7, I9 respectively drive the displays Ai, A2.

  The interface I8 controls the switch C8, which receives the commands E1, E2, the brake lights and the hazard lights, to transmit them respectively to the right and left brake lights L1, L2, and to the right and left hazard lights L3, L4.

  Port P10 controls the mass memory MM, of the recording type on magnetic medium, such as a hard disk.

  Thus the data from the sensors CI, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, transmitted to the central unit, are processed according to the instructions stored in the memory MS; the data extracted from this processing are sent to the displays Ai, A2, to the switch C8, and are stored in the mass memory MM.

  The number of acquisitions of values from said sensors, carried out by the central unit, is configurable and can be, in the example according to - 8 the invention, between 1 and 10 per second, or more precisely 5 per second.

  The activation of the displays Ai, A2 and of the switch C8, can be configured as a function of the number of braking actions per unit of time; indeed, according to a time interval, configurable from 30 seconds to 300 seconds, the counting of the number of braking actions will be carried out over a period, also configurable, which can last from 5 minutes to 10 minutes.

  The threshold for the number of braking actions, beyond which the displays Ai, A2, the switch C8, are deactivated or partially deactivated, can be configured and may be between 5 and 20, or more precisely 10.

  The speed sensor C3 transmits the vehicle speed information; This information is averaged by sliding integration over a defined period and a given acquisition frequency; the result is then rounded off according to a predefined step, for example 5 km / h and will be transmitted to the display A2.

  Said central processing unit (MS, MD, CO, RI, UC) may be a microcontroller, or a microprocessor, or a digital signal processor, or an ASIC.

  The table below defines different configurations for moving the vehicle 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 as well as a parking configuration 9.

  Indeed, the speed of the vehicle, its acceleration and in particular its deceleration are taken into account, according to the information from the sensors, in order to define the nature of the information to be transmitted by the displays 30 Ai, A2 and by the brake lights. LI, L2 and distress L3, L4.

  configuration Speed Acceleration of colored light fire display braking distress display L1, L2 L3, L4 A1, A2 A2 (red) (orange) 1 V = Vn = 0 off off steady green Vn 2 V = Vx "Y> 5%" off off green permanent Vx 3 V = Vx "-5% <y + 5%" 'off off green permanent Vx orange 4 V = Vx y = -5% off permanently on Vx% "20% <cyc <-. orange V = Vx 5% off permanently on Vx "-20% y <- red 6 V = Vx 5% on permanently on Vx 7 V = Vx ly <-20%" flashing flashing red flashing Vx 8 V = Vx NS on flashing red Vx red 9 V = 0 NS on permanently off 0 motor configuration braking speed variation clutch brake (on: 1) vehicle vehicle injection hand (off: 0) engine C1 C2 C3 C4 | C5 C6 1 1 O 1 1 O 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 1 0 1 4 1 0 1 0 0 1/0 1 0 1 0 0 1/0 6 1 1 1 0 0 0 7 1 1 1 0 0 0 8 1 0 1 1 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 1/0 NS Configuration 1 corresponds to a so-called "permanent" regime; it is characterized by a constant speed (V = Vn) , zero acceleration (y = 0).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-1-0-1, that is to say: * C1 = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: not braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, * C4 = 1: active engine injection, 10 * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1: active clutch.

  The brake lights are off; the hazard lights are off; the displays A1, A2 are green; display A2 indicates a constant speed V = Vn. - 10

  Configuration 2 corresponds to a so-called "acceleration" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), a positive acceleration (y> 5%).

  The sensors CI, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-1-0-1, i.e.: * CI = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: not braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, 10 * C4 = 1: active engine injection, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1: active clutch.

  The brake lights are off; the hazard lights are off; the displays Ai, A2 are green; display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed 15 V = Vx.

  Configuration 3 corresponds to a so-called "rolling" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), an acceleration sometimes slightly positive, sometimes slightly negative (-5% <y <5%).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-1-0-1, that is to say: * C1 = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: not braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, 25 * C4 = 1 active engine injection, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1: active clutch.

  The brake lights are off; the hazard lights are off; the displays Ai, A2 are green; display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed 30 V = Vx. - he

  Configuration 4 corresponds to a so-called "slightly negative rolling" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), a slight deceleration caused by a variation of zero engine injection and by occasional disengages (y = -5%).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-0-0-1 / 0, that is to say: * CI = I: engine running, * C2 = 0: no braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, 10 * C4 = 0: zero injection variation, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1/0: clutch sometimes active, sometimes inactive.

  The brake lights are off; the hazard warning lights are on; the displays Ai, A2 are orange; display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed 15 V = Vx.

  Configuration 5 corresponds to a so-called "clearly negative running speed"; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), a deceleration caused by a variation in zero engine injection and by occasional declutches (-20% < y <-5%).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-0-0-1 / 0, that is to say: * C 1 = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: no braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, * C4 = 0: zero injection variation, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1/0: clutch sometimes active , sometimes inactive.

  The brake lights are off; the hazard warning lights are on; the 30 displays Ai, A2 are orange; display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed V = Vx. - 12

  Configuration 6 corresponds to a so-called "braking" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), a deceleration caused by the braking of the vehicle and by the disengaging of the engine (-20% <Y <-5%).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a 1-1-1-0-0-0 state, i.e.: * Ci = 1: engine running, * C2 = 1: braking , * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, * C4 = 0: zero engine injection variation, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 0 declutching.

  The brake lights are on; the hazard warning lights are on; the displays A1, A2 are permanent red; the display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed V = Vx.

  Configuration 7 corresponds to a so-called "emergency braking" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), a strong deceleration caused by the emergency braking of the vehicle and by the disengaging of the engine 20 (y <-20%).

  The sensors C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a 1-1-1-0-0-0 state, i.e.: * C 1 = 1: engine running, * C2 = 1: braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, * C4 = 0: zero engine injection variation, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 0 declutching.

  The brake lights are flashing; the hazard warning lights are flashing 30 the displays Ai, A2 are flashing red; display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed V = Vx. - 13

  Configuration 8 corresponds to a so-called "parking preparation" regime; it is characterized by an instantaneous speed (V = Vx), occasional disengages.

  The sensors CI, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 are in a state 1-0-1-1-0-1 / 0, that is to say: * CI = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: no braking, * C3 = 1: effective vehicle speed, 10 * C4 = 1: active engine injection, * C5 = 0: no hand brake, * C6 = 1/0: clutch sometimes active, sometimes inactive.

  The brake lights are on; the hazard warning lights are flashing; the displays Ai, A2 are red; the display Ai is flashing and / or scrolling; 15 the display A2 indicates an instantaneous speed V = Vx.

  Furthermore, the display Ai may include a scrolling zone, which concerns half of the length, indicating the parking side chosen (parking on the right: scrolling from the right half to the right, and vice versa).

  The parking side according to the invention can be indicated by a switch positioned by the driver or by voice recognition; the above switch will activate the brake light and the hazard light concerned by the choice of the parking side.

  Configuration 9 corresponds to a so-called "parking" regime; it is characterized by a zero speed (V = 0), the action of the handbrake and the positioning of the gearbox in neutral.

  The sensors Cl, C2, C3, C4, C5, are in a state 1-0-0-0-1 / 0, that is to say: * C1 = 1: engine running, * C2 = 0: no braking, - 14 * C3 = 0 zero vehicle speed, * C4 = 0 zero engine injection variation, * C5 = 1/0: hand brake positioned or not.

  The brake lights are on; the hazard lights are off; the 5 displays Ai, A2 are permanent red; display A2 indicates a zero speed V = 0, or a "STOP" symbol.

  Finally, a final configuration is that which corresponds to the stopped engine; in this case, all the lights and displays are off. 10 Thus, the use of the sensors, for the most part installed in recent vehicles, will enable vehicle drivers who follow the vehicle equipped with the device according to the invention to know the displacement parameters of the aforementioned vehicle.

  The association of the information transmitted by the displays of the above-mentioned device, with the regulatory lights installed on the vehicle, constitutes real-time assistance in addition to the simply visual assessment and may contribute to a better perception of possible dangers. - 15

Claims (17)

claims   1. Device for displaying vehicle movement parameters, this device involving at least: e a speed sensor (C3), * an electronic circuit for processing information (MS, MD, CO, RI, UC) from said sensors, * a supply circuit (AL), associated with the vehicle battery, making it possible to supply the above-mentioned circuits and electronic means 10 and the above-mentioned sensors, characterized in that it comprises display means, located at the rear of the vehicle so that they can be seen from the outside, these display means being associated with the aforesaid sensor, the aforesaid electronic processing circuit, and the aforesaid supply circuit, so as to indicate the speed instantaneous, the amplitude and the sign of the variation in speed and / or stopping distance.   2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it involves at least: * an engine condition sensor (CI), 20 e a braking sensor (C2), * a fuel injection sensor ( C4), * a handbrake status sensor (C5), * a clutch status sensor (C6), * a switch (C8) for the brake lights (LI, L2) and the brake lights 25 distress (L3, L4), * means for recording the displayed data (MM).   3. Device according to claims 1 and 2,   characterized in that the display means comprise a display (Ai) 30 which emits a color in steady state or in alternate mode varying in - 16 as a function of the amplitude and of the sign of the variation in vehicle speed, in real time .   4. Device according to claims 1 and 2,   characterized in that the display means comprise a display (A2) which indicates the instantaneous speed of the vehicle in a steady-state or alternating-speed color varying as a function of the amplitude and of the sign of the speed variation of the above-mentioned vehicle , and / or the stopping distance, in real time.   5. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the color of the displays (Ai, A2) is green when the acceleration of the vehicle is positive, zero or slightly negative.   6. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the color of the displays (Ai, A2) is orange when the deceleration is effective in the absence of braking of the vehicle.   7. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the color of the displays (Ai, A2) is permanent red when the deceleration is caused by the braking of the vehicle.   8. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the color of the displays (Ai, A2) is flashing red 25 when the deceleration is caused by the emergency braking of the vehicle.   9. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the color of the displays (Ai, A2) is permanent red when the vehicle is stopped, the engine being running. - 17   10. Device according to claims 3 and 4,   characterized in that the display (Ai) indicates the side on which the vehicle is parked.   11. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the switch (C8) controls the brake lights (LI, L2) and the hazard lights (L3, L4) when the deceleration is caused by the braking of the vehicle and when the vehicle is stopped with the engine running.   12. Device according to claim l, characterized in that the brake lights (LI, L2) and the hazard lights (L3, L4) are on when the deceleration is caused by the braking of the vehicle.   13. Device according to claim 1 1, characterized in that the brake lights (L1, L2) and the hazard lights (L3, L4) are flashing when the deceleration is caused by the emergency braking of the vehicle. 20 14. Device according to claim 1 1, characterized in that the brake lights (L1, L2) and the hazard lights (L3, L4) are flashing when the vehicle is in the process of parking, on the parking side selected, the engine running. 25 15. Device according to claim 1 1, characterized in that the brake lights (L1, L2) are on and the hazard lights (L3, L4) are turned off when the vehicle is stopped, the engine being running .   16. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the electronic processing circuit (MS, MD, CO, RI, UC) is a microcontroller, or a microprocessor, or a digital signal processor, or an ASIC.   17. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the mass memory (MM) stores the data transmitted to the displays (Ai, A2), to the brake lights (LI, L2) and to the hazard lights (L3, L4) .