GB2372585A

GB2372585A - Commercial vehicle driving hours and break time

Info

Publication number: GB2372585A
Application number: GB0104365A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael William Rosier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-02-22
Filing date: 2001-02-22
Publication date: 2002-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2021-02-22
Also published as: GB0104365D0; GB2372585B

Abstract

A timer for drivers of commercial vehicles, subject to drivers hours regulations,(EC regulations 3820/85) which provides an automatic method of timing 'driving time', in accordance with the description of said 'driving time' laid down in the regulations. ie Time spent at the controls for the purpose of controlling the vehicle, whether the vehicle is in motion or not. The timer is capable of differentiating between halts in normal journeys, for instance stopping at traffic lights, which is still counted as driving time, and stops when the driver carries out 'other work'for instance to make a delivery, which is not counted as driving time. The timer will also time break periods, and will store recorded driving hours for each day of a two week period as well as total weekly and fortnightly driving hours in accordance with the requirements of the regulations.

Description

Commercial Vehicle Driving Hours and Break Timer This invention relates to a driving hours and break timer for drivers of commercial vehicles, subject to drivers hours regulations. (EC regulation 3820/85) The regulations themselves are complex, and give maximum permitted hours that a driver may drive before he is required to take a break, maximum permitted driving hours during a day as well as maximum driving hours over weekly and two weekly periods. They also give minimum times for breaks and rest periods.

Periods of'driving time', 'other work'and'breaks'are recorded by the tachograph which is required to be fitted in the majority of commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonne gross vehicle weight. The tachograph however does not provide any indication to the driver of what has been recorded for the current day.

Current drivers hours regulations allow the driver a maximum four and a half hours 'driving time'before he is required to take a break.

It is important to note here that the defintion of driving time is'time spent at the controls for the purpose of controlling the vehicle, whether the vehicle is in motion or not. It will be understood that halts in normal journeys due, for instance, to stopping at traffic lights, is still considered'driving time', since the driver is still sitting behind the wheel for the purpose of controlling the vehicle, although the vehicle is not in motion. Stopping the vehicle to make a delivery however is not counted as driving time. This is considered to be'other work', which does not count towards the four and a half hours driving time allowed before the driver is required to take a break.

It follows then that if a drivers shift is made up of several short periods of driving broken up by periods of other work, ie, loading or unloading the vehicle, it can be difficult for the driver to know when it is necessary for him to take a break.

Also the regulations state that the break itself has to be at least 45 minutes long, but it doesn't necessarily have to be taken'en bloc', but can be split up into shorter breaks of at least 15 minutes each in duration. After the full 45 minute break (total) another driving period of up to four and a half hours can begin afresh, provided the total driving hours for the day, week or fortnight do not exceed the maximum allowed for either period.

The driver is also expected to keep record of his total driving hours for each working day, since the regulations restrict the maximum daily driving hours allowed. He should also keep a running total of the current week and fortnight driving hours, to make sure he doesn't exceed the maximum allowed in either period.

It can be seen that for a driver to remember all that is expected of him to make sure he complies with the regulations is likely to be difficult.

One solution would be for him to use a timer, of which there are several already on the market. However one shortcoming of conventional timers is that they rely on the driver pressing a button to start or stop the clock at the required times. If he should forget to press the switch just once during a working period, then the time recorded by the timer for the whole period would be inaccurate. If on the other hand he were to start the timer when he first started driving at the beginning of a shift and stop it when he started a rest period, the timer would be counting'driving time'even if some of this time was spent on'other work'such as making a delivery, and this would not make full use of the driving time he is entitled to.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the majority of tachographs in use today are of the automatic variety. With an automatic tachograph the driver is not required to change the mode switch on the tachograph between periods of'driving time'and 'other work', the tachograph will automatically change the mode of work recorded on the waxed paper disc to'driving'when the vehicle is in motion, or to'other work' when the vehicle is stationary. If the legal definition of'driving time'was as simple as this, then a simple automatic timer which recorded only the time the vehicle was in motion would suffice. But since the legal definition of'driving time'includes halts when the vehicle is stopped, (in traffic for instance), a more complex system is required to operate an automatic'driving time'timer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a timer to reduce the problems encountered in complying with the driving hours regulations, and automatically record and display'driving time'according to the legal definition without the driver having to remember to start or stop the clock manually before or after periods of 'other work', such as making a delivery. The only time the driver should remember to press buttons on the timer are times he is required to change switch settings on the tachograph anyway.

According to the present invention there is provided a driving hours and break timer comprising of an electronic display unit to visually display information to the driver, being of a type that can be seen in poor light conditions.

A control panel consisting of a number of switches, to allow the driver to operate the various functions of the timer.

A microcontroller and electronic circuitry to control the timing and display functions, read data from the control panel and all electrical input signals from the vehicle electrical system, and store daily, weekly and fortnightly driving hours records in a memory that will be retained even in the event of a power loss, and control the operation of the display unit.

An audible warning device also controlled by the microcontroller.

A back up battery to allow the timer to continue to function if it should be disconnected from the vehicle electrical system.

A method of connecting the timer with the vehicle electrical system which can be quickly and easily disconnected, A connecting device to enable the timer to be securely mounted in a suitable position in the vehicle allowing the driver to see the display unit and reach the control panel, whilst being easily detatchable to allow quick and easy removal when required.

The timer is designed to; Automatically start and stop the driving time counter according to signals received from the electrical system of the vehicle to which it is fitted, to record as accurately as possible what is legally defined as'driving time'and display the time recorded, on the display unit to the driver. The driver having the option to display just the current period driving time, or the total driving hours for the current day.

Display the current time and day.

Provide a means to time the length of break or rest periods, and display that time to the driver, as well as to indicate when a break has reached the minimum time necessary to count towards a full break (currently 15 minutes), and to indicate to the driver when sufficient time has been taken to count as a full break. (Currently 45 minutes) This is most useful if the driver takes the option of taking his break as two or more shorter break periods, which must be at least 15 minutes each in duration.

To record automatically at the end of a shift the total driving hours counted for the current day, week and fortnight, and store these times in a memory that will not be lost in the event of a loss of power.

The driver is able to recall to the display screen the driving time recorded for any day of the current or previous week, (week is defined as 00.00 hrs Monday to 24.00 hrs Sunday in accordance with current driving hours regulations) as well as the total driving hours of the current week or fortnight at any time by operating the relevant switches on the timer.

The timer will automatically update the memory at midnight on Sunday, when times that had been recorded for'this week'will become'last week', and the'this week' memory locations will be cleared.

To provide an audible warning when the driving hours counted are approaching the maximum permitted.

To provide an audible and visual warning when the driving hours counter equals or exceeds the maximum permitted.

To provide an audible warning if the vehicle is set in motion with the timer set to 'break'mode.

To provide a facility to clear driving time counted for a day before the timer is switched off, so preventing that time being recorded against that day, in the memory, or affecting the weekly or fortnightly totals, this would be useful if another driver used the timer for a day (if for instance the regular driver was sick, ) and recording his driving time in the memory would give a false account to the regular drivers driving hours.

To allow the connection from the vehicle to the timer to be easily detatchable so that the timer can be moved easily from one vehicle to another if it is necessary for the driver to change vehicles, and if this change is made during a shift, time already counted on the first vehicle will not be lost in the process of changing vehicles, and the clock in the timer will continue to run when the timer is not connected into either vehicle.

A specific embodyment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Refering to the drawing (fig 1) the timer preferably consists of an enclosure (1) housing the display screen (2) and control panel (3), consisting of switches (7-12).

The timer is designed to be mounted in the vehicle by means of a fixing device (not shown) in such a position that the driver can clearly see the display unit and reach the control panel. The linking cable and plug (4) enable the timer to be connected to the vehicle electrical system via the junction box (5) and connecting cables (6) which would normally be fitted out of sight. The linking cable and junction box are permanently wired into any vehicle in which it is intended to use the timer.

The connections that it is necessary to make to the vehicle electrical system are as follows.

Permanent power supply and return from the vehicle battery (current drawn from the vehicle battery is minimal and does not give a high risk of causing a battery to run flat).

Li-Ignition switched signal Zii-Switched signal from handbrake warning light circuit, (This switched signal can be either active high or active low. A jumper connection inside the junction box must be configured to the correct type of signal when the junction box is fitted) Iv Power supply from the vehicle side light circuit, to enable backlight on LCD type display to be illuminated in poor light conditions.

There are also a number of additional optional connectors to be connected as required when fitting the junction box to the vehicle. These signal connectors are what tells the timer to stop counting'driving time', and are connected to various circuits on the vehicle that would not normally be operated during'driving time', but would be operated if the driver stopped the vehicle to carry out'other work', so enabling the timer to differentiate between halts in normal driving periods and stops to engage in 'other work'.

Provided the handbrake is applied operation of any one of these circuits will stop the 'driving time'timer.

Active high or active low signals can be accomodated (or both).

The following is a list of recommended circuits that could be used to provide such signals. a, Drivers door courtesy light switch, indicating that the drivers door has been opened. b, Warning light switch for power take off (This is engaged before operating ancilliary equipment such as lorry loader cranes or tipper bodies). c, Drivers seat sensor. A sensor could be fitted to the drivers seat to stop the clock if the driver leaves the seat.

This list is not exhaustive. The timer may be wired into any circuit required by the operator to suit the particular operation of the vehicle concerned. (The ignition signal connection is used to sense if the engine has been switched off, and this will also stop the'driving time'counter).

To illustrate the specific operation of one example of the timer, a typical drivers day will be used as an example.

At the start of his shift, the driver is required to fill in the centre field of the tachograph disc and insert the disc into the tachograph. At this time he would also switch on the timer. (When the timer is switched off, the clock continues to work, though the display screen is blank, and all other functions of the timer are disabled).

He would make sure that the mode switch on the tachograph is set to the'work' positon.

The timer will display the day and time on one line of the display screen, and on another line the word'DRIVING'and a clock display reading hours, minutes, and seconds which will all be set at zero.

When the engine is running and the handbrake is released (indicating that the driver has started driving the vehicle), the driving time counter will automatically start counting and display the counted time. It will continue counting while the driver is driving the vehicle, including time spent at halts, for instance traffic lights or other traffic hold-ups. Assume the driver has to stop after a period of driving to carry out some form of other work, for instance to make a delivery. The vehicle would be stopped and the handbrake applied. After this, the driver performing any one of the following actions would stop the driving counter; Stopping the engine engaging the power take off, prior to operating ancilliary equipment, such as lorry loader crane or tipper body (if fitted).

Opening the drivers door.

Pressing the'STOP CLOCK'button on the control panel to manually stop the clock.

Performing any other function that has been assigned to the spare'stop clock' connections of the timer on that particular vehicle.

In this way the timer will record'driving time'according to the legal definition, without the driver having to remember to press a button to start or stop the clock at the beginning or end of a driving period, (although he does have the option to stop the clock manually if required).

When the period of'other work'is complete and the driver starts driving again, the 'driving time'counter will again start to count automatically when the engine is running and the handbrake is released.

It would not have been necessary for the driver to touch the tachograph mode switch on an automatic tachograph during the action just described.

Assuming the driver continues his journey, and after some time decides to take a break. He would park the vehicle and stop the engine. (This would of course stop the driving counter). He is then required to change the mode switch on the tachograph to the break position to record the break on the tachograph disc. He would also change the timer to the break position, by pressing the relevant switch on the control panel.

When the timer is put into the'break timer'mode, the second line of text on the display screen (which did show the driving counter) now shows the following 00 BREAK 0: 00.00 This is the break timer.

On this line there are two counters. The one on the left of the text is a minute counter only, while the one on the right of the text is an hour, minute and second counter.

At the beginning of the first break of the day, both counters will start from zero.

The counter on the right of the text will start counting immediately the timer is switched to the break timer mode, displaying the time recorded in hours, minutes and seconds. The counter on the left of the text will stay at zero until 15 minutes has elapsed (this is the minimum amount of time a driver must take for the break to count towards his full break of 45 minutes). At this time 15 minutes will also be shown on the left counter. Thereafter both counters will increment whole minutes together.

After this time, the driver has a choice, he can either resume driving, in which case the time taken for the break would count toward the full 45 minutes, (because it was longer than 15 minutes) or he could take the full 45 minutes break in one go. Lets assume in this case he decides to take 20 minutes break then resume driving.

After 20 minutes break, both timers will display the same minute value (20).

When he is ready to start driving again, he must switch the mode switch on the tachograph back to the'work'position, at the same time he should switch the timer back to the'driving'counter.

Since the time of the break taken was less than 45 minutes, the driving counter will still display the driving time already counted for that period, and when the engine is running and the hand brake is released, will continue to count from that value.

The driver can continue to drive until the driving counter reaches 4 hours 30 minutes, though of course it would be prudent to stop with sufficient time left to park the vehicle in a suitable place.

If the driving counter should approach the maximum time allowed for a driving period, the timer will warn the driver with a series of audible warnings at regular intervals. If the counter should reach 4.5 hours, (the maximum permitted time for a driving period) then a more distinct audible warning will sound, and the text on the driving counter will flash.

The driver must now complete his 45 minutes break. When he switches the tachograph to break, and the timer back to the break timer mode, the two counters on the break counter will this time show different values. This is because the previous break was only 20 minutes long and therefore didn't count as a full break. The display will now show the following 20 BREAK 0: 00.00 The counter on the right of the text will immediately start counting from zero, while the counter on the left of the text will stay at its present value (in this case 20 because the previous break was 20 minutes long) until 15 minutes have elapsed. At that time 15 minutes will be added to the value on the left counter, (making 35) and thereafter both minute counters will increment in unison from their respective values.

Note that if the first break had been at least 45 minutes long, then returning to the break counter a second time would have seen both counters starting again from zero.

Assume that the driver now wishes to complete the full break. He must wait until 45 minutes is shown on the left counter, indicating that he has taken 45 minutes break, though not necessarily'en bloc', but if he has taken his break as several shorter breaks, then each would have been at least 15 minutes in duration. This is In accordance with the drivers hours regulations.

The driver will now continue his journey. He must switch the mode switch on the tachograph back to'work', and the timer back to the'driving'counter.

The driving hours regulations state that after a 45 minute break, the driver is able to start afresh with another 4.5 hours driving time (provided that this doesn't cause him to exceed the hours limitations of the daily, weekly or fortnightly periods) For this reason, when the'driving'counter is again displayed, it will start again from zero.

If required the driver can choose to display the'total'driving hours for the day instead of just that period of driving. This is done by pressing the relevant button on the control panel. This of course would be useful after taking a 45 minute break when the daily driving hours and that period would be different, (since the driving period would start afresh from zero, after 45 minutes break) and the daily driving hours may need to be more closely monitered than just that driving period.

At the end of his shift the driver must remove his tachograph disc, and complete the centre field. He would at that time switch off the timer.

Switching off has two purposes, although the clock continues to operate, the display is blanked and all other functions of the timer are disabled, this serves to reduce the current drawn from the vehicle battery.

The second thing that happens when the timer is switched off is that the total driving hours counted for that day are placed into a memory. The memory is of a type that will not be lost even if there is a loss of power. At the same time the total weekly and fortnightly driving hours are updated and placed in a similar memory.

The driver is able to view the hours recorded for any day of the current or previous week, or total hours for the current or previous week or fortnight by pressing the appropriate buttons on the control panel.

Note that a week is defined as 00.00 hours Monday to 24.00 hours Sunday in accordance with current drivers hours regulations.

The memory is automatically updated at 24.00 hours Sunday, when driving hours recorded for'this week'become'last week', and the new'this week'memory locations are cleared.

If it is necessary for the driver to swap vehicles during his shift, he can take the timer with him (provided both vehicles are equipped with the necessary electrical connections to operate the timer) Removing the timer from the first vehicle will automatically cause the internal back-up battery to power the timer while it is disconnected, so avoiding loosing time already recorded or having to reset the clock.

While the invention has been described above as a portable device that can be easily removed from one vehicle and fitted into another, it would be possible to arrange a device according to the invention that was a permanent fixture in a vehicle, or as an integral part of the tachograph.

Claims

CLAIMS 1 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, incorporating a display device, timing circuitry, control panel, and connecting cables to connect the timer to the vehicle electrical system, which automatically records and displays'driving time', in accordance with the definition laid down in the drivers hours regulations (EC regulation 3820/85) ie'Time spent at the controls for the purpose of controlling the vehicle, whether the vehicle is in motion or not', automatically differentiating between'driving time'and'other work'.
2 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, as claimed in claim 1 wherein an internal back up battery can be fitted, the connecting cable is releasable, and the timer can be moved between vehicles fitted with a suitable connecting cable and plug, without values previously recorded in the timer being lost.
3 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, capable of displaying the driving time recorded as the total driving time for a particular shift, or just the current period of driving, where the daily driving is split into shorter periods by breaks.
4 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 3, wherein an internal clock enables the time to be displayed on the display device, as well as a means for the driver to set the clock to the correct time.
5 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 4, wherein the internal clock enables the day and/or date to be displayed, as well as a means for the driver to set the day and/or date when first setting the clock.
6 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim wherein is provided a'break'timer which will record and display 'break time'as is recorded by the tachograph.
7 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 6 wherein the break timer incorporates a means to automatically indicate when the duration of a break period has been sufficient to count towards the regulatory full break period.
8 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 7 wherein is provided a means for the break timer to store the time recorded for break periods that have not been of sufficient duration to count as a full regulatory break, but have been of sufficient duration to count towards a full break, until such time as another break period of sufficient duration to count towards a full break has occured, after which the times recorded for the two periods will be added together and displayed.
9 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the driving timer will automatically reset to zero after a full regulatory break period has been recorded, whether that break period has been taken as a single break of sufficient duration, or of several shorter periods, each being of sufficient duration to comply with current drivers hours regulations
10 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the driving time recorded for each shift is automatically stored in an electronic memory, (the contents of which can be displayed on the display device when required) together with the current weekly, and fortnightly total, so providing a means for the driver to keep record of the hours he has driven for each day of the current and previous week, as well as both weeks and fortnights totals.
11 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 10 wherein can be provided an audible warning to warn of driving periods approaching or reaching values equal to those given as maximum permitted values in the drivers hours regulations.

12 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, substantially as described herein, with reference to the accompanying drawing. Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS 1 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, incorporating a display device, timing circuitry, control panel, and connecting cables to connect the timer to the vehicle electrical system, which automatically records and displays'driving time', in accordance with the definition laid down in the drivers hours regulations ie 'Time spent at the controls for the purpose of controlling the vehicle, whether the vehicle is in motion or not', specifically the driving counter will start to count 'driving time'when a signal from the vehicle electrical system indicates that the ignition switch is in the'engine run'position, and a signal from the vehicle handbrake warning light circuit indicates that the handbrake is released, provided that the signal from the drivers door switch indicates that the drivers door is closed, the driving counter will stop counting'driving time'when the signal from the handbrake warning light switch indicates that the handbrake is applied, and either the ignition is switched off, or the drivers door switch indicates that the drivers door is opened.

2 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is the facility to measure electrical signals from other circuits in the vehicle electrical system which could be used to cause the driving hours counter to stop counting when such circuits are operated.

3 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein an internal back up battery can be fitted, the connecting cable is releasable, and the timer can be moved between vehicles fitted with a suitable connecting cable and plug, without values previously recorded in the timer being lost.

4 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim, capable of displaying the driving time recorded as the total driving time for a particular shift, or just the current period of driving, where the daily driving is split into shorter periods by breaks.

5 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 4, wherein an internal clock enables the time to be displayed on the display device, as well as a means for the driver to set the clock to the correct time.

6 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 5, wherein the internal clock enables the day and/or date to be displayed, as well as a means for the driver to set the day and/or date when first setting the clock.

7 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim wherein is provided a'break'timer which will record and display 'break time'as is recorded by the tachograph.

8 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 7 wherein the break timer incorporates a means to automatically indicate when the duration of a break period has been sufficient to count towards the regulatory full break period.

9 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 8 wherein is provided a means for the break timer to store the time recorded for break periods that have not been of sufficient duration to count as a full regulatory break, but have been of sufficient duration to count towards a full break, until such time as another break period of sufficient duration to count towards a full break has occured, after which the times recorded for the two periods will be added together and displayed.

10 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the driving timer will automatically reset to zero after a full regulatory break period has been recorded, whether that break period has been taken as a single break of sufficient duration, or of several shorter periods, each being of sufficient duration to comply with current drivers hours regulations 11 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the driving time recorded for each shift is automatically stored in an electronic memory, (the contents of which can be displayed on the display device when required) together with the current weekly, and fortnightly total, so providing a means for the driver to keep record of the hours he has driven for each day of the current and previous week, as well as both weeks and fortnights totals.
12 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer as claimed in claim 11 wherein can be provided an audible warning to warn of driving periods approaching or reaching values equal to those given as maximum permitted values in the drivers hours regulations.
13 A commercial vehicle driving hours and break timer, substantially as described herein, with reference to the accompanying drawing.