GB2465214A - Collision warning system for use on roads and railways - Google Patents

Abstract

The collision warning system, intended to provide warning of an errant vehicle to a workforce or the like, comprises one or more beacons 1 designed to be placed at a distance from the workforce and which, if hit or knocked over by a vehicle, send a signal to a warning device. The warning device may provide an audible warning, and optionally a visual warning, and may either comprise a unit that can be clipped upon a belt or clothing of a user or alternatively may comprise a larger unit which can be either mounted on a vehicle or freestanding. The beacon preferably signals the warning device by radio. The beacon may be triggered by a switch connected to a base plate, a pendulum switch or a pressure-sensitive cable that can be extended over road or rail lines.

Description

Title: Vehicle collision warning device.

A device to give an audible warning to people working in hazardous locations and environments that an approaching vehicle is potentially going to cause a collision or hit them.

One of the most dangerous working environments in everyday life is on or near busy motorways and roads and rail lines. The number of incidents of injury or death due to moving vehicle collisions is always of concern. This device aims to give an early warning to people working near this potential hazard and allow them to move to a safe area if an approaching vehicle or train strays onto a collision course.

Description:

The warning device works by detecting that a vehicle has strayed, for whatever reason, off its normal safe route or path. If we consider motorways this would be from lane 1 onto the lay by or hard shoulder. The device in the form of a beacon or remote detector is placed some distance away from the working zone, just inside the "safe area", if it is hit or knocked over by any vehicle entering that area it would triggered.

This would cause the beacon to send a signal to a warning device either carried by an individual or fitted to a vehicle thus giving a few vital seconds of warning of a possible collision. The benefits are: 1. Once placed and set up it will give an audible warning of danger to people who may not be in the position to keep a look out for moving vehicles or trains approaching them.

2. It will work equally well in poor weather conditions or in situations where line of sight is obscured between the detector and warning device, for example on the bend of a road or in fog.

3. Being fully self contained it is easy to deploy and recover at the start and finish of the task involved.

4. It allows lone workers to concentrate on the job in hand secure in the knowledge that they have an electronic "lookout".

5. Multiple units can be connected together to offer protection over a larger area.

6. The simple concept allows it to be adapted for use in a large number of different 1. Placement The beacon or trigger unit needs to be far enough away from the working area to give enough warning to anyone in danger. Most motorway or dual carriageway traffic in lane 1 is travelling at no more than 113 KPH (70 MPH) and in most cases, where there is HGV traffic, this will be nearer 100 KPH (60 MPH). This will mean that a beacon placed 200m away if hit would give a warning period of just over 7 seconds.

This will give the few vital moments to anyone in danger to react and take action to get out of the path of a collision. If the traffic is moving at a slower rate, for example KMH (50 MPH), the beacon placed at the same place would give a slightly longer warning at nearer 10 seconds. The balance must be made between how much warning time is needed, the speed of the traffic and the need to make sure there is the least chance of a vehicle straying into the safe zone after passing the beacon.

There are 3 main parameters involved with its use and placement.

1. Time to warn.

This first parameter will normally be set. This will be the thne the operative needs to have to move to a safe place. In most cases 5-6 seconds should be enough to react to the warning and move a few metres to a safe location as he or she would be listening out for the warning, just as if another person was acting as a "lookout". Most emergency repairs or recoveries on motorways involve changing tyres or recovering vehicles using tow trucks. These emergencies will normally involve individuals working close to the disabled vehicle but still in a position that they can move to a safe place if need be at short notice. The benefit to them is that they will have the beacon acting as a "second pair of eyes" always watching advancing traffic.

2. Traffic speed The second parameter is also normally set as most roads tend to have traffic moving at the legal maximum speed. This mean that the beacon on slower roads can be moved nearer the working area with no effect on the warning time.

3. Distance between beacon and work area.

The third parameter is less easy to defme. This will depend on road, weather and traffic conditions. The shape of the road will have a bearing on how likely it is for vehicles to cross into the safe zone, for example a bend in the road may cause vehicles to stray more easily that if they were on a straight section.

Weather conditions such as heavy rain, fog or snow may cause poor visibility or erratic driving, or even a more day to day hazard such as low winter sun causing drivers to be dazzled.

If there is a real chance that a single beacon, placed at a distance to give the desired warning time, will not be enough to detect a vehicle straying off the safe course then two or even three could be used, all being set to the same warning frequency. This will mean that in the event of the first beacon not being struck there is still a chance of the second or third being hit. While this will not give as much warning as maybe desirable it will still give some warning, and still greatly increase the chances of avoiding an accident.

2. Construction and design.

The beacon needs to be portable, durable and easily set in position. The obvious choice of material is injected or ABS plastic. The power options are either NiMH or lead acid gel cells. Either option would be suitable, giving long operating periods, and are easily charged using a normal vehicle electrical power supply.

The main body will consist of a base unit containing the power supply, radio transmitter, aerial and trigger switch. Attached to the base unit will be a tube section fitted with a high visibility warning flasher, the aerial cable will also be routed in the tube to give better transmitting characteristics. The base unit will have 4 fold down legs to steady the unit, these would be of a design that they collapse on impact allowing the trigger switch to operate, but giving enough support to stop the beacon being blown over.

The trigger switch could be either connected to the base plate or by using a pendulum switch both of which are actuated by the beacon being knocked over or hit. The third method of triggering the unit would be by using pressure sensitive cable which could be extended over a wider area for example across the full width of a motorway safety lane or across a number of rail lines. This could simply be plugged into the main beacon and work in parallel with the normal trigger switches. The beacon once triggered would cause the radio circuitry to communicate a signal to the radio receiver placed near to the working or protected area.

3. Signalling and communication.

The next aspect of the beacon is the requirement for a warning signal to be sent once it has been triggered. As the environment it will be used in may vary low power radio signalling is the most suitable. The requirements are for a system which can work over a distance of 100-200 metres, have low power consumption and be able to work on a common frequency with several other units. There will also be the need to be able to change the operating frequency of the units, this will allow multiple beacons to be used together to allow protection over a larger area. This would be done by simply setting each beacon to a common frequency to the base unit.

The operator using the beacon would be equipped with a small radio receiver which would incorporate an audible warning and optional visual signal. The warning device would be of a suitably loud output to be easily heard about any background noise, for example traffic on a motorway. If the background noise was so high as to warrant the use of ear defenders the user could use a small earpiece.

The warning device can be fitted with a low battery warning function. It would be designed to be clipped onto clothing or a belt.

The second type of warning device would be a larger unit which could be freestanding or vehicle mounted. It would have a higher audible output and therefore could be used to warn a group of people in a hazardous area rather than just an individual. This arrangement would be of benefit to operators using dedicated breakdown vehicles which could be fitted with high volume warning device which would have the benefit of not only alerting anyone of the danger of an approaching vehicle but also alert the driver of the vehicle that has just activated the beacon, so giving them a warning and possibly the chance to take avoiding action, just as when any vehicle uses it's horn to alert another driver.

Claims (4)

1. Claims.1. Collision warning device.
2. 2. It is designed for use in various environments, the base unit can be deployed on most firm flat surfaces.
3. 3. Fully portable, each component having its own independent power source.
4. 4. Expandable to allow extra units to be added to give coverage over a greater area.s. Quickly and easily deployed and recoverable minimising danger to users.6. Rechargeable from mains or vehicle power source.7. Gives both audible and visual warnings when activated.