GB2293682A

GB2293682A - Nearness approach warning system

Info

Publication number: GB2293682A
Application number: GB9519869A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael George Booth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-09-29
Filing date: 1995-09-29
Publication date: 1996-04-03
Also published as: GB9419686D0; GB9519869D0

Abstract

The system comprises displaceable pendulum contact 3, an electrical circuit coupled with said contact to connect the contacts to a source of electrical power 15, and a warning device 13 such as a lamp or an audible transmitter connected with the circuit means so that when at least one contact 3 is displaced with a pendulum movement to engage another contact 5 the electrical circuit is completed and the warning device 13 is operated. The displaceable pendulum contact preferably comprises an elongate contact arm 3 pivotally mounted at one end and electrically coupled to the electric circuit at that end, an opposed end of the elongate contact arm 18 remote from the pivotally mounted end being displaceable to engage a further conveniently ring contact 5 connected to the electric circuit thereby to complete the electrical connection with the further contact to operate the warning device 13. The warning system may comprise an integral free standing mobile device. <IMAGE>

Description

NEARNESS APPROACH WARNING SYSTEM This invention relates to a nearness approach warning system of the type which detects the positioning of objects relative to an obstruction for example.

According to the present invention there is provided a nearness approach warning system comprising displaceable pendulum contact means, electrical circuit means coupled with said contact means to connect contacts thereof to a source of a electrical power, and warning means connected with the circuit means so that when at least one contact is displaced with a pendulum movement to engage another contact the electrical circuit is completed and the warning means is operated.

In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention displaceable pendulum contact means comprises an elongate contact arm pivotally mounted at one end and electrically coupled to the electric circuit at that end, an opposed end of the elongate contact arm remote from the pivotally mounted one end being displaceable to engage a further contact connected to the electrical circuit means, thereby to complete the electrical connection with the further contact to operate the warning device.

In one further embodiment the detector is an integral free standing mobile device. Conveniently, the support for the rod and annular ring is located on a box in which control circuitry for operating a warning lamp or loudspeaker is housed. The lamp and loudspeaker are of course mounted on the box as appropriate.

Conveniently, the contact is an annular ring with the remote end of the elongate contact arm arranged to be located, preferably centrally, within the ring so that the electrical circuit is usually in an OFF condition. The electrical circuit means is completed by the remote end of the elongate contact arm being displaced sufficiently to engage the inner surface of the annular ring.

In one alternative construction the further contact is preferably a flat plate and the elongate contact arm is arranged to sit adjacent to and spaced from one side of the plate.

Conveniently, the remote end of the elongate contact arm is connected with a spring anchored firmly at its opposed end from the arm. The spring is preferably a coil spring, and has the effect of limiting lateral movement of the remote end of the elongate contact arm against light or inadvertent forces such as a strong wind, or possibly some other inadvertent movement. The elongate contact arm is conveniently of a plastics material or other electrical insulative material having an inner electrically conductive core.

Alternatively, the elongate contact arm may be of an electrically conductive material such as a metal rod which may or may not have an insulative coating thereon.

Preferably, the power source is a 12 volt DC supply as supplied by a small battery for example, although the AC mains with suitable transformers could be utilised as is well known. 6 or 8 volt battery supplies may also be used. Conveniently, the warning means includes a lamp having a red cover.

Alternatively, an audible warning is given when the contacts engage to complete the electrical circuit to operate the warning means.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a nearness approach warning system according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the system applied to a garage wall; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of one alternative construction of the system of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic top view of the lower part of the system of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a further alternative construction of a nearness approach warning system in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a lower part of the embodiment of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of part of a further alternative system in accordance with the present invention;; Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of another part of a system according to the present intention, Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic top view of the system part of Fig. 8, and Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a free standing nearness approach warning system according to the present invention.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 1 and 2 there is disclosed a nearness approach warning system shown attached to a post in Fig. 1 or the wall of a garage in Fig. 2. The system comprises upper and lower supports 1, 2, respectively, with the upper support 1 supporting an electrically conductive elongate contact arm 3 which is arranged to hang in a vertical direction so that a remote end 4 of the arm 3 is located centrally within an electrically conductive annular ring 5 supported by the second support 2 on the post or wall.

Each of the upper and lower supports 1, 2 comprises a rectangular metal plate 6 having fixing holes 7 for attaching the plate to a post 8, for example. The plate 6 supports an elongate bar 9 which extends substantially perpendicularly to one vertically disposed edge 10 of the plate 6 to project outwardly from the post 8 to which plate 6 is attached. The bar 9 is supported relative to the plate for lateral adjustment relative thereto to align the warning system correctly. A remote end 11 of the bar 9 relative to the plate 6 is adapted by any known standard connection to support one end of an elongate contact arm 3 so that the arm 3 is electrically insulated from the bar 9. The annular ring 5 is supported in a similar electrically insulative manner at the end of the lower support 2.

The elongate contact arm 3 mounted on the upper support 1 is electrically connected by an electrically conductive wire 12 to a warning lamp 13.

The opposite side of the lamp is connected by a similar wire 14 to a battery 15 which in turn is connected by wire 16 to the annular ring 5. The rung 5 is mounted in an electrically insulative manner on a U-shape support 17 having one elongate arm 17A and a shorter arm 17B which is in turn part of the lower support 2. The arm 3 is itself electrically conductive, preferably comprises a solid metal rod which is covered by a soft insulating material such as a plastics material leaving a bare end portion 18 where the rod passes through the annular ring 5 so as to make good electrical contact with the annular ring.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the warning system can be mounted on a garage wall which may be the front wall of the garage or inside the garage on an inner post of the garage, and hangs in the manner of a pendulum such that the arm 3 extends downwardly from a point spaced from the garage wall so that if a car is driven too closely to the wall the side of the car will first contact the arm 3 causing it to deflect laterally relative to its length until the remote end 4 thereof engages the inner wall of the ring 5 to give a visual alarm via lamp 13. A coil spring 19 is connected between remote end 4 of the elongate rod 3 and the shorter arm 17B to ensure the rod 3 does not freely move within the ring 5 when electrical contact could be made inadvertently between the ring and rod, by undue vibration for example, caused by winds or draughts.

The system disclosed with reference to Figs.

1 and 2 is for fixing where garage doors operate inconveniently and interfere with the system.

Accordingly, with independent parts 1, 2 the spacing between the parts 1, 2 can be varied to accommodate the operational path of the garage doors.

Therefore, the completion of the electrical circuit provides the driver of the car with an adequate warning that he is driving too close to the wall and is likely to damage the car well before he would otherwise hit the wall and effect such damage.

Although the warning has been indicated using a lamp 13 it is possible, alternatively or additionally, to operate an audio warning by emitting a loud tone which may be continuous, or broken to provide an intermittent bleep. A combination of audio and visual warning circuits may also be used.

Turning to Figs. 3 and 4 there is disclosed an alternative system in which the system is of a one piece configuration by having upper and lower supports 1,2 which are permanently attached to an elongate mounting 20 to fix the spacing between the parts. In this instance the annular ring 5 is bolted on the end of one arm 21A of a generally U-shaped support 21 in which arm 21A is longer than arm 22B. The bottom or closed end of the U-shaped support 21 is mounted on an electrically insulative block 23 which is in turn supported by metal arm 9 of lower support 2. The electrically conductive U-shaped support 21 has an outwardly extending terminal 24 to which electrically conductive wire 16 is connected.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a very similar construction to that in Figs. 3 and 4, and accordingly like parts bear the same reference numerals. In this particular embodiment the central aperture defined by the annular ring 5 is represented by a circular aperture 24 in either an L-shaped rectangular plate 25 or a curved flange extension mounted in an electrically isolated manner via insulating block 23 on the outer end of the bar 9 of the lower support 2. The free end of arm 3 is arranged in this instance to be located within the aperture 24 in the rectangular plate or curved flange extension.

Fig. 7 illustrates a modified arrangement in which the remote end 4 of the arm 3 is connected via an elongate coil spring 30 to a fixed anchorage 31 at the lower end 4 of the spring 30 as shown in Fig. 7. The spring 30 serves to hold the end 4 of the arm 3 in a central position relative to the annular ring 5 (not shown in Fig. 7) thereby to ensure that when connected to a garage door frame, for example, strong winds do not move the arm 3 and force it against the annular ring 5.

Such movement can only be achieved by the full displacement of the arm 3 caused by physical contact between the arm and the side of the car, for example, which of course then expands the coil spring to allow arm 3 to engage ring 5.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a further construction of the mounting of the annular ring 5 which is electrically insulatively mounted on an uppermost end 35 of a generally U-shaped plate like support 36 in Fig.

8 and has an electrical connector 40 for connecting the electrical circuit with the ring 5. A relative short arm 37 of the support 36 has an aperture 39 for receiving one end of coil spring 30. In use, the spring 30 has its fixed end mounted in aperture 39 whilst the other end of the spring 30 extends upwardly toward the annular ring 5 and is connected to the remote end 4 of the arm 3, as previously disclosed.

Fig. 10 shows a further embodiment which differs from the previously described embodiments in that it is an independent integral free standing mobile unit which may be moved to any desired location. The nearness approach detector in this instance comprises a box like support of metal or of electrically insulative material 50 on an upper surface 51 of which is mounted a U-shaped bracket 52 having one arm 53 which is considerably longer than a second arm 54. The bracket 52 may be of a metallic or insulative material. An elongate rod 55 constructed similarly to the rod 3 of the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4 is suspended from an insulating block 56 which is mounted on one end 57 of an elongate arm 58 mounted on and projecting perpendicularly outwardly from the free end 59 of arm 53.The elongate rod 55 extends vertically in Fig. 10 from the insulating block 56, with its free end 60 extending through an annular ring 61 insulatively mounted on the arm 52 towards the closed end of the Ushaped bracket 52. An extreme outer end 62 of the elongate contact rod 55 is provided with an aperture for receiving one end of a spring 63 having its opposed end located in an aperture 65 in a free end of arm 54 of the bracket 52.

In this particular embodiment the wiring for the electrical circuitry is mounted on the bracket 52 and runs along the bracket into the box 50 which is designed to contain therein the electrical control circuit for the detector and also to include an appropriate circuitry for emitting, where necessary, either an audio signal through a loud speaker (not shown) mounted in the box or by a visual alarm in the form of a lamp, again not shown but mounted in the box or elsewhere along the length of the longer arm 53 of the bracket 52.

Conveniently, in the embodiments described herein the spring 19, 30, 63 is a coil spring but other forms of spring may be used. Moreover, the elongate bar 3 is preferably of a coated construction so that a soft non-abrasive outer cover is provided which can rub along the outside of a car without actually damaging the painted exterior of a car.

The warning means preferably includes a lamp having a red cover which can emit constant beam of light or alternatively, the beam can be intermittently turned on and off to obtain the driver's attention.

Alternatively, an audible warning may be given when the control bar and annular ring engage to provide a constant tone or a broken tone to give an intermittent sound so as to attract the attention of the driver and to advise him he is approaching an obstruction such as a wall far too closely. A combination of audio and visual warning apparatus may also be used.

Although the plates 6 and support arms 9 and their equivalents in the other embodiments have been described as being of a metal, such as steel or brass, or any other suitable metal, the plate and arm can be formed of a plastics material or any other suitably electrically insulative material which provides a rigid support for the elongate contact arm and annular ring.

Moreover, whilst the elongate contact arm is described as being constructed of a metal rod the arm can be of an insulative material having an elongate electrically conductive cap at its remote end relative to its support so that electrical contact can be made with the annular ring. An electrically conductive wire or braid may be embodied in the insulative material of the contact arm to interconnect the cap with the control circuitry for operating the warning means.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A nearness approach warning system comprising displaceable pendulum contact means, electrical circuit means coupled with said contact means to connect contacts thereof to a source of a electrical power, and warning means connected with the circuit means so that when at least one contact is displaced with a pendulum movement to engage another contact the electrical circuit is completed and the warning means is operated.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaceable pendulum contact means comprises an elongate contact arm pivotally mounted at one end and electrically coupled to the electric circuit at that end, an opposed end of the elongate contact arm remote from the pivotally mounted one end being displaceable to engage a further contact connected to the electrical circuit means, thereby to complete the electrical connection with the further contact to operate the warning device.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the contact is an annular ring with the remote end of the elongate contact arm arranged to be located within the ring so that the electrical circuit is usually in an OFF condition.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the remote end of the elongate contact arm is displaceable laterally sufficiently to engage the inner surface of the annular ring.

5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the further contact is a flat plate and the elongate contact arm is arranged to sit adjacent to and spaced from one side of the plate.

6. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the remote end of the elongate contact arm is connected with a spring anchored firmly at its opposed end from the arm.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the spring is a coil spring.

8. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the elongate contact arm is conveniently of a plastics material or other electrical insulative material having an inner electrically conductive core.

9. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the elongate contact arm may be of an electrically conductive material such as a metal rod which may or may not have an insulative coating thereon.

10. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the warning means comprises a lamp.

11. A system as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the warning means is an audible signal.

12. A nearness approach warning system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figs. 1 and 2; or Figs. 3 to 6; or Figs. 7 to 9 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the system is an integral free standing mobile device.