GB2311318A

GB2311318A - An illuminated hazard warning triangle

Info

Publication number: GB2311318A
Application number: GB9710655A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael John Rea
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-05-24
Filing date: 1997-05-24
Publication date: 1997-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 2017-05-24
Also published as: GB9710655D0; GB2311318B

Abstract

A warning triangle comprises a non-collapsable, triangular reflector 11 having one or more light emitting devices, eg bulbs or LEDs, powered by one or more batteries and a base 10 for supporting the triangle in a substantially upright position. The light emitting devices may be placed at or adjacent to the corners of the triangle 11 and controlled by an electronic circuit which may cause the devices to flash. Further the devices may have an integral heat sink and may be mounted on a printed circuit board with a reflective circuit. The devices may be protected by a lens 23. Reflective means may be provided by reflective tape. The base has three members 12, 13, 14, a first member 12 rigidly connected to the reflector and a second 13 and third 14 members pivotally connected about one end of the first member 12 to enable the second 13 and third 14 members to swing outwards to provide stability. The warning triangle may further have a subsidiary high intensity light emitting device releasably connected to the top apex of the triangle.

Description

A WARNING TRIANGLE This invention relates to a warning triangle carried by motorists and used to alert other motorists of a hazard such as may be caused by a breakdown or an accident.

Present warning triangles rely at night on a reflector to reflect light from the headlamps of an oncoming vehicle to alert the driver of the oncoming vehicle of a hazard. These can only be seen by the driver of an oncoming vehicle over the range of his headlamps and do not always give an oncoming driver sufficient time to brake, particularly in conditions of poor visibility. Also, known warning triangles are collapsible to fit into a narrow carrying case. They are sometimes difficult to assemble, particularly in the dark, and time may be of the essence.

According to the present invention there is provided a warning triangle comprising a reflector bearing part and a base for supporting the reflector bearing part in an upright or substantially upright position, the reflector bearing part having one or more light emitting devices powered by one or more batteries.

Preferably, the reflector bearing part has a plurality of light emitting devices powered by one or more batteries.

Preferably, the reflector bearing part supports a reflector of triangular^ shape. In this case, advantageously, a light emitting device is mounted at or adjacent to each of the three corners of the reflector.

The reflector is, conveniently, formed of reflective tape, and is more particularly formed of scratch resistant, glass lensed, reflective tape.

Preferably, the warning triangle also includes electronic circuit means for causing the or each light emitting device to flash. In a preferred embodiment, the electronic circuit means causes a plurality of light emitting devices to flash in sequence.

Preferably, the or each light emitting device is in the form of a light emitting diode and, in this case, preferably, the or each device includes an integral heat sink and an integral reflector.

In addition or as an alternative to providing the or each light emitting device with an integral reflector, the or each light emitting device may be mounted on a component having a reflective surface. Such a component could be in the form of a printed circuit board and, in this case, the circuit board could be tinned (or otherwise rendered reflective and electrically conductive) to define terminals for the light emitting device.

Preferably, a Fresnel lens is mounted over the or each light emitting device.

This has the advantage that it filters out light over a band width which can trigger epileptic fits.

The reflector bearing part of the warning triangle is preferably a rigid, noncollapsible, structure which can be stored flat.

The base of the warning triangle is, preferably, collapsible for storage purposes and may comprise three parts, one of which is rigidly connected to the reflector bearing part and the other two of which are pivotable relative to the said one part.

The battery or batteries may be non-rechargeable or rechargeable. If rechargeable batteries are used, they may be trickle charged from a vehicle's power supply.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a warning triangle according to the present invention, Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the reflector bearing part of the warning triangle shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a circuit diagram showing the flashing circuit of the warning triangle.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the warning triangle shown therein comprises a base 10 and a reflector bearing part 11.

The reflector bearing part 11 is a rigid, non-collapsible, structure which can be stored flat. The base 10 is collapsible for storage purposes and comprises three parts 12, 13 and 14. The part 12 is rigidly connected to the reflector bearing part 11 and the parts 13 and 14 are pivotable relative to the part 12 between a storage position (not shown) in which the three parts 12, 13 and 14 are parallel to one another and an operative position (as shown in Figure 1) in which the base 10 supports the reflector bearing part 11 in a substantially upright position.

The reflector bearing part 11 comprises a plastics moulding 15 having triangular, planar, inner portion 16 and a triangular outer portion 17 which is thicker than the inner portion 16 and which has rounded corners. The outer portion 17 has a shallow channel 18 in its front face for receiving three strips of reflective tape 19,

typically formed from ScotchliteRiamond Grade reflective sheeting produced by 3M This sheeting comprises prismatic lenses formed in a transparent synthetic resin, sealed and backed with a pre-coated pressure sensitive adhesive and combines exceptionally good daytime colour definition with very high night-time brightness.

The outer portion 17 of the reflector bearing part 11 has three circular recesses 20, one at each of the apices of the outer portion 17, for receiving light emitting diodes 21, which are mounted on a printed circuit board 22, and a lens 23, which is typically a Fresnel lens. The outer portion 17 also has a recess 24 in its lowermost limb for housing a printed circuit board 25 equipped with an electronic circuit for causing the light emitting diodes 21 to flash, slots 26 for housing the wires 27 between the printed circuit board 25 and the light emitting diodes 21 and two openings 28 for locating battery terminals 29.

The base of the recess 24 has an aperture 30 through which projects an onloff switch 31 attached by screws 38 to the rear of the printed circuit board 25.

The switch has a push button 32 and a waterproof cover 33. A battery cover 34 is clipped over the battery compartment on the rear of the lower limb of the outer portion 17 of the reflector bearing part 11. Cover 35 is provided for closing the recess 24 and covering the end of one of the battery terminals 29 and cover 36 is the provided for covering the end of the other battery terminal 29.

The light emitting diodes 21 are typically Super Flux LEDs made by

Hewlett PackaI'dand each has an integral heat sink and an integral reflector.

The printed circuit boards 22 on which the light emitting diodes 21 are mounted are tinned to serve as terminals for the light emitting devices and also to serve as additional reflectors.

The electronic circuit mounted on the printed circuit board 25 will now be described with reference to Figure 3. The circuit comprises a timer 40 which provides clock pulses for a 5-stage Johnson Decade counter 41. The counter 41 is enabled so that it is advanced by a low or high clock pulse from the timer 40. The three LEDs 21 are switched by Darlington transistors Q 1 to Q3 via resistors R1 to R6 by the outputs of the counter 41. The resistors R7 to R12 limit the current through the three LEDs 21.

The circuit is designed to create flashing of the three LEDs 21 at irregular intervals. There are two complete cycles of the LEDs each time the counter 41 counts to ten and each cycle has a different flashing pattern. One pattern is a flash of each LED one after the other (counter outputs DO3, DO4 and Dot). The other pattern (counter outputs DO6, DO9 and DO2) flashes at half the rate. This is achieved by missing a complete clock cycle from the timer between each LED. The counter is enabled so that at the end of the DO9 output the counter resets and the DOO output is activated.

The value of the capacitor C1 sets the clock speed of the timer 40 and hence the flashing rate of the LEDs. The capacitor C2 provides supply decoupling for the timer 40 and the counter 41.

The embodiment described above is given by way of example only and various modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the strips of reflective tape could be replaced by a one piece moulded reflector. Also, the LEDs could be replaced by high intensity blue LEDs so that the warning triangle could be used by the police. The warning triangle could also have a subsidiary high intensity light emitting device which can be releasably connected to the top apex of the triangle. This would have an independent electronic flashing circuit and battery and could be clipped to the rear of the triangle or slid into position between two rails.

Claims

1. A warning triangle comprising a reflector bearing part and a base for supporting the reflector bearing part in an upright or substantially upright position, the reflector bearing part having one or more light emitting devices powered by one or more batteries.

2. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reflector bearing part has a plurality of light emitting devices powered by one or more batteries.

3. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the reflector bearing part supports a reflector of triangular shape.

4. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 3 when dependent on claim 2, wherein the light emitting devices are mounted at or adjacent to the three corners of the reflector.

5. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reflector is formed of reflective tape.

6. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising electronic circuit means for causing the or each light emitting device to flash.

7. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each light emitting device is in the form of a light emitting diode.

8. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 7, wherein the or each light emitting device includes an integral heat sink and an integral reflector.

9. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each light emitting device is mounted on a component having a reflective surface.

10. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the component is in the form of a printed circuit board.

11. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the printed circuit board is tinned (or otherwise rendered reflective and electrically conducted) to define terminals for the light emitting device.

12. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a lens is mounted over each light emitting device.

13. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reflector bearing part is a rigid, noncollapsible, structure which can be stored flat.

14. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base is collapsible for storage purposes.

15. A warning triangle as claimed in claim 14, wherein the base comprises three parts, one of which is rigidly connected to the reflector bearing part and the other two of which are pivotable relative to said one part.

16. A warning triangle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a subsidiary high intensity light emitting device releasably connectible to the triangle at or adjacent to its in use upper end.

17. A warning triangle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.