IE60867B1 - Techograph for motor vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a tachograph (60) for motor vehicles, with a cuboid flat housing (26), the front wall (59) of which is assigned the indicator means for the speed, date and time and distance covered and at least one insert slot (21) for the recording carriers used. The diagram disks (23) employed as recording carriers are deflected automatically to their recording position parallel to the front wall (59) by guide means (32, 33) and a transport device (40, 41).

Description

The invention relates to a tachograph for motor vehicles having an indicating instrument and a registering unit to which the sheet-type record carriers provided may be fed through at least one slot in the housing of the tachograph.

A tachograph of this kind is known from DE - AS 1 801 690. It is well known that in conventional tachographs, the recording discs, which serve as recording means, are associated with a hinged cover in such a manner, that in all possible installation sites of the tachograph, when the cover is opened, an inserted recording disc faces the observer.

This means that inside the cover, apart from various other functional groups - in particular, various display means - a drive mechanism is disposed, which drives the recording disc receiver in a timekeeping manner; the recording disc receiver, which is provided with a centering and conveying pin, is accessible from the back of the cover, which serves as a base support for registration. This concept ensures relatively problem-free manipulation of the tachograph in monitoring the recordings by spot checks and when changing the recording discs.

The architecture of the usual tachograph is further characterized in 60G67 - 2 that the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the axis of the device is only slightly larger than the diameter of the recording discs used.

This minimalization of the installational cross-section presents a more advantageous optical appearance to the observer and allows the tachograph to be fitted even in relatively narrow dashboards.

The consequence of this architecture is a multiple-storey construction of the tachograph and space occupation in the direction of the axis, i.e. considerable depth. With the present trend in the design of dashboards and instrument consoles for commercial vehicles, this results in considerable fitting difficulties, in particular when, in trying to achieve a common front plane for all intended instruments in the relatively shallow design of instrument console, the tachograph can no longer be superimposed, but must be countersunk. Also, such an adaptation of conventional tachographs to a given dashboard design, using suitable fixtures and frontal shields, results in a quite unsatisfactory and costly remedial device. Difficulties and inadequacies with respect to the manipulation of the recording discs arise also in the preferred location for fitting the tachograph in the driver's line of sight, i.e. in the area around the steering wheel, where the necessary space for the opening of the cover is of course least available.

In these circumstances an obvious solution to the problem is that the tachograph is divided into a display or indicating instrument which remains in the dashboard, and a registering unit device, which is suitably equipped for the transmission of data, and which is disposed apart from the display instrument. Such a solution, however, has the decisive disadvantage that the mounting of the registering device in the driver's cab can vary greatly, depending on the type of vehicle.

Apart from the fact that the driver would be forced to carry out an operation which is completely different from the usual manipulations around the instrument console, when changing the recording means, this would not be very user-friendly and in many cases would not only occasion new fitting problems but would also involve the danger that · the introduction or changing of the recording means would be forgotten. - 3 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tachograph which does not require a spatial re-orientation of the driver in the manipulation of the recording means, is easier to • manipulate, possesses the customary full size display and largely avoids the stated fitting problems, and in particular, enables a »' reduced installation width.

According to the invention, there is provided a tachograph for motor vehicles, having an indicating instrument and a registering unit to which the sheet type record carriers provided may be fed through at least one slot in the housing of the tachograph, characterized in that there are provided in the front wall or face of the tachograph both a window associated with the indicating instrument as well as the slot associated with the registering unit, and in that there are provided guide means and a transporting apparatus which automatically guide a record carrier, entered through the slot for the introduction and ejection of the record carrier, into its registering position in a plane substantially parallel to the front wall.

Preferably the installation casing housing is of cuboid construction or oblong form such that the dimension transverse to the front wall is smaller than the length of the slot provided for the record carriers, i.e. that the length perpendicular to the front face is shorter than the length of the slot.

Preferably also a guide shaft associated with the front-wall slot surrounds the indicating instrument, and at least one pair of transporting rollers engages in the guide shaft, or reaches thereinto.

The slot may be closed by means of a pivotally mounted flap, i.e. a hinged shutter. For the use of two record carriers, two guide shafts may be arranged parallel to one another, at least one pair of « transporting rollers may be associated with each guide shaft, the transporting rollers may be in geared connection with one another and i 35 be driven by one and the same motor, and the pairs of transporting - 4 rollers may be arranged staggered with respect to one another in the transport direction. A status indicator may be associated with each guide shaft. A window cutout for an indicator instrument with circular indicating scales may be provided on the front wall, while the · indicating instrument may be constructed as a liquid crystal display. f / The tachograph architecture according to the invention solves all parts of the stated problem; in particular with the automatic retraction and ejection it offers a simpler manipulation in changing the recording means. It is also of advantage, that the direct spatial integration of the registering device or unit into a display or indicating instrument is preserved, which display instrument provides information in the conventional manner about instantaneous speed, time of day and distance covered, and thus corresponds to the character of the conventional tachograph. In addition, the frontal disposition of the feed slot and the overall architecture of the tachograph permit installation flush with the other front surfaces of a dashboard, and the device can be used as a building block for a dashboard, as it were. The exceptionally small build-in or installation depth which makes this possible is achieved by a consistent planar arrangement and condensation of the constructional elements, especially of the various drives and the electronic components of the tachograph.

The drawings are explained in more detail as follows.

Figure 1 shows an overall view of a dashboard in which the tachograph in accordance with the invention is fitted, Figure 2 shows a frontal view of the tachograph in accordance with the invention, Figure 3 shows a partly cut-away, schematic side view of the tachograph in accordance with the invention, Figure 4 shows a frontal view of a tachograph in accordance with the i - 5 invention with a display instrument differing from the exemplary embodiment according to Figure 1, Figure 5 shows a comparison of the space requirement of the tachograph 5 in accordance with the invention and of a conventional tachograph.

The overall view, Figure 1, shows part of a dashboard or instrument console 1 with an initial section 2, in which various service devices 3 are disposed, and a second section 4, in which display instruments are disposed. A shield 7 designed for the display instruments, perforated to produce circular windows 5 and 6 for the display means of a tachometer 57 and the display means of a tachograph 60, is covered by a glass panel 8 which is common to all the instruments.

The speed indicating means of the tachograph 60 are labelled 9 and 10, the time display is labelled 11, 12 and 13. Further shields 14 and 15, whose front surfaces lie substantially in the plane of the glass panel 8, cover the adjoining edges between the instruments and, which is not illustrated, also cover display means, arranged in rows, for monitoring various functions, and the odometer 16 of the tachograph 60. Also the adjusting spindles associated with the knobs 17 and 18 for setting the working time extend through the first screen 15, while in the other screen 14 a cut-out 19 is provided, which is covered by a swivel-mounted or pivotally-mounted shutter or flap 20 so as to be flush with the front face of the screen 14, when the shutter 20 is closed. The shutter 20 allows access to slots 21 and 22, through which the recording discs or record carriers 23 and 24, which serve as registering means, can be introduced into the tachograph. A key 25 which protrudes from the screen 14 serves for opening the shutter 20.

The key 25 is advantageously provided with locking means. It is also conceivable that a locking device for the slots 21 and 22 be disposed inside the tachograph. In the withdrawal position, the recording discs face the operator in a convenient manner, as shown in Figure 1.

Figures 2 and 3 show the tachograph 60, in accordance with the - 6 invention, as a self-contained device with a casing or housing 26 and a front panel 27, covering the display means 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 disposed in a window opening or cut-out 58 in the front face or wall 59. In this form, the tachograph can also be used as a dashboard segment or as a constructional element for a dashboard. Light-emitting diodes 28 and 29 are illustrated, with which the conditions occupied or vacant of the guide shafts 31 and 32 for the recording discs, associated with the slots 21 and 22, can be indicated. The guide shafts 30 and 31 are each formed from plates 32, 33, and 34, 35 respectively which also serve as assembly plates in that they are provided with for example, the speedometer 36, a drive 37 for the time display, the registering devices which are not illustrated, the centering and conveying means for the recording discs, which are mounted on pivoting arms 38 and 39 and which are not shown in any greater detail, and the drive means for the recording.

The transport of the recording discs to and from their registering positions is achieved by pairs of transporting rollers 40, 41 and 42, which reach into or engage in the guide shafts 30, 31, are linked with each other by the meshing of cogs 44, 45, and are driven by a motor 46 via a gear system 47, 48. The offset arrangement of the pairs of transport rollers 40, 41 and 42, 43 serves on the one hand to minimize the distance of the guide shafts from each other, and on the other, to ensure that the insertion distances for both recording means shall be as alike as possible.

The variation of the tachograph 60, in accordance with the invention, shown in Figure 4 is equipped with a liquid crystal display, which provides a digital display 49 for the clock mechanism and another (50) for the odometer, and a quasi-analog display 51 for the speedometer.

The setting of the working time parameters is effected by keys 52, which can have for example associated light-emitting diodes.

The comparison in Fig 5 shows that, when a conventional tachograph and a tachograph 60 in accordance with the invention are installed flush ; - 7 with the front face of a dashboard, the space between the planes B and C, i.e. the necessary size of the installation and the space required for operation when the cover is opened, is considerably larger for the conventional tachograph than the space between the planes D and E, which corresponds to the requirement of a tachograph 60 in accordance with the invention. By comparison with the other contours of both tachographs, the distance a gives the same window opening for the display means in both cases.

For the sake of completeness, it should be added that, in particular with relatively low dashboards, a horizontal installation of the tachograph in accordance with the invention, together with a correspondingly altered arrangement of the means for setting the working time, is conceivable.

It is also conceivable that laminar or card-like registering means be used, and that the recording be effected by means of a multiple writing device driven at a fixed rate, or by means of a heated pressure head.

Claims (9)

1. Tachograph for motor vehicles, having an indicating instrument and a registering unit to which the sheet type record carriers provided may be fed through at least one slot in the housing of the tachograph, characterized in that there are provided in the front wall (59) of the tachograph (60), both a window associated with the indicating instrument as well as the slot (21) associated with the registering unit, and in that there are provided guide means (32, 33) and a transporting apparatus (40, 41) which automatically guide a record carrier (23), entered through the slot (21), into its registering position in a plane substantially parallel to the front wall (59).

2. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that the installation housing (26) is of cuboid construction such that the dimension transverse to the front wall (59) is smaller than the length of the slot (21) provided for the record carriers (23).

3. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that there is associated with the front-wall slot (21), a guide shaft (30) surrounding the indicating instrument, and in that at least one pair of transporting rollers (40, 41) engages in the guide shaft (30).

4. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that the slot (21) may be closed by means of a pivotally mounted flap (20).

5. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that for the use of two record carriers (23, 24), two guide shafts (30, 31) are arranged parallel to one another, in that there is associated with each guide shaft (30, 31), at least one pair of transporting rollers (40, 41 and 42, 43), in that the transporting rollers (41 and 42) are in geared connection with one another and are driven by one and the same motor (46), and in that the pairs of transporting rollers (40, 41 and 42, 43) are arranged staggered with respect to one another in the transport direction. - 9

6. Tachograph according to Claim 5, characterized in that there is associated with each guide shaft (30, 31), a status indicator (28, 29)

7. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that there is provided on the front wall (59), a window cutout (58) for an indicator instrument with circular indicating scales (10, 13).

8. Tachograph according to Claim 1, characterized in that the indicating instrument is constructed as a liquid crystal display.

9. Tachograph as defined in Claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.