MXPA97001415A - Device for switching control of devehicle accessories between vehic control stations - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle having multiple control stations for controlling accessories of electrically controlled vehicles, a control device for switching control of the accessories between the stations, comprising: an output connector connected to the accessories; plurality of power controls located in each of the stations to control the accessories, each of the plurality of power controls includes a mounting for control switching, to generate a gate signal when the control switching assemblies are driven by a first predetermined period of time and for actuating its corresponding accessory when the control switching assemblies are operated for a second predetermined period of time, and switchable gate assemblies from a first condition connecting one of the stations to the output connector to a second condition that connects others of l As stations to the output connector, the gate assemblies respond to the gate signal generated by one of the control switch assemblies, to switch from the first condition to the second condition and respond to the other control switching assemblies, to switch from the second condition to the first condition

Description

DEVICE FOR SWITCHING CONTROL OF VEHICLE ACCESSORIES BETWEEN VEHICLE CONTROL STATIONS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for switching control of vehicle accessories between separate vehicle control stations.

In various vehicles, such as mining vehicles, garbage trucks and railroad machines, the vehicle operator needs to be able to control the vehicle from more than one location within the vehicle. In this way, some waste trucks, for example, are equipped with both driver control stations and the passenger side. The passenger side control station allows the operator to control the vehicle from the passenger side during garbage collection, eliminating the inconvenience of walking around the vehicle to the driver's side control station at each stop. Since the operator must also control certain functions and accessories of the vehicle while controlling the vehicle, each station must allow the operator to acquire control over the functions and accessories of the vehicle. In these vehicles, some accessories can be adapted to receive redundant feeds and in this way all the control stations can be activated and be able to exercise control simultaneously. Other accessories require control feeds to alternate between control stations such as when a station is activated, all others are deactivated to avoid conflicting control power signals from the control stations. For example, a single pneumatic motor directs pneumatically operated windshield wipers, which are used in some waste trucks. In this way, the separate air controls of each control station must be fed into a multi-position air operated valve that is connected to the air motor, which alternates control between the stations. This configuration can have undesirable consequences. For example, the operator may forget to turn off the air control from one control station before moving to the other station. If the operator tries to operate the other air control, the controls come into conflict and under some circumstances, they fail to control the cleaners. To correct the situation, the operator must return to the first station, deactivate the first air control, then return to the second station and activate the second air control. Otherwise, the operator must proceed with the first control in its current setting and accept the potential safety hazards of not being able to control the adjustment of the cleaners in accordance with changing conditions. In this way, to avoid the inconvenience and safety hazards of loss of control over the system of cleaners, the operator must always remember to turn off a control before relocating to another station.

The present invention provides a control device for switching control of vehicle accessories, between one control station and another, without requiring the operator to deactivate the controls of one station before moving to another station. The invention comprises in one form, an output connector connected to vehicle accessories, power controls that include a control switch located at each control station, and gate assemblies connected between the power controls and the output connector, that respond to activation of a station control switch by connecting the station's power controls to the output connector, thereby switching control of vehicle accessories to that control station. Additionally, the output signals of the control switch are directed to a delay assembly that activates one of the vehicle accessories, in response to sustained activation of a control switch for a predetermined period of time. Accordingly, one purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for switching control of vehicle accessories from one control station to another.

Another purpose is to provide a device that allows the operator to control the vehicle accessory control to a particular control station without first having to deactivate the other control stations. Still another purpose is to provide a device for switching control of vehicle accessories between control stations using one of the accessory control switches as a switch for selection of control station. Other purposes of this invention will be apparent upon reading the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The aforementioned and other purposes and advantages of this invention and the way to achieve them, will be more apparent and the invention will be better understood, by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention, taken as a whole with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a block diagram of the control device of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a block diagram of the control device of the present invention, as applied to a windshield wiper system.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts through the various figures. The description set forth herein illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, but does not limit the scope of the invention in any way. Now with reference to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, two control stations 10a 10bf are illustrated each having power controls 12a, 12b which produce control signals transmitted on ducts 14a, 14b to gate assemblies 16. operation of which are explained in detail below. Each set of power controls 12a, 12b includes a control switch I8a, 18b, which is also connected to gate assemblies 16. Control switches 18a, 18b generate gate signals on the lines 20a, 20bf that control the operation of the gate assemblies 16. Gate assemblies 16 have the outlet duct 22 which is connected via the output connector 24 to the vehicle accessories 26. Control switches 28a, 18b are also connected to the logic gate 28 which is directed to the delay assemblies 30. The delay assemblies 30 are connected through the output connector 24 to the discrete vehicle accessory 32. As illustrated in Figure 2, the gate assemblies 16 include switching capacitors 34a, 34b. The gate signals on the lines 20a, 20b are directed to the power side of the capacitors 34a, 34b, respectively. The output of the capacitor 34a is connected to a supply of the gate 36a and leads to V + through the resistor 38a. The remaining power signal to the gate 36a is connected to the output of the gate 36b. The output of the gate 36a produces an activation signal on the line 40a which is directed to the switching bank 42a. The feeds to the switching bank 42a, which contain a plurality of individual switches, are connected to the feed controls 12a. Each output of the switching bank 42a is connected to a corresponding output of the switching bank 42b and directs on the output duct 22 to the output connector 24. The output of the capacitor 34b is connected to a supply of the gate 36b and leads to V + by the resistor 38b- The remaining feed of the gate 36b is connected to the output of the gate 36a, completing the commonly known tilting configuration of gates 36a, 36b. The output of the gate 36b produces an activation signal on the line 40b which is directed to the switching bank 42b. The feeds to the switching bank 42b, which also contain a plurality of individual switches, are connected to power controls 12b. The outputs of the switching bank 42b are linked to the switching bank 42a and directed to the output connector 24 as described above. Delay mounts 30 consist of an in-line resistor 44, capacitor 46, exciter 48 (configured as inverter) and deactivation resistor 50. Resistor 44 is connected between the output of logic gate 28 and the energies of exciter 48. Capacitor 46 is connected between ground and the junction between resistor 44 and exciter 48. The deactivation resistor 50 is connected between the output of exciter 48 and ground. The driver 48 provides the output of the delay assemblies 30 to the output connector 24 which is connected to the discrete accessory 32.

The operator can acquire control over vehicle accessories 26, including the windshield wiper system either from the control stations 10a or 10b by actuating the corresponding control switch 18a or 18b, which also operates the wash function of the wiper system as it will be explained further below. For example, if the operator is to control the accessories of the station 10a, the control switch 18a is operated momentarily to produce a gate signal on the line 20a that passes through the capacitor 34a and gate 20a, producing an activation signal. on line 40a at the exit of the gate 36a. This activation signal simultaneously closes each of the switches included in the switching bank 42a, by connecting the power controls 12a through the switching bank 42a and output connector 24 to the accessories of the vehicle 26. The activation signal to the gate output 36a is also connected to a feed of gate 36b. Accordingly, the activation signal at the output of the gate 36b is deactivated, deactivating the switching bank 42b. In this way, when the activation signal on the line 40a is present, the plurality of switches included in the switching bank 42b open simultaneously, ensuring that the power controls 12b are not connected, to the output connector 24. In compliance , the outputs of the switching banks 42a and 42b, which are connected together, can not be activated simultaneously. Similarly, if the operator is to control the vehicle accessories from the other control station 10b, the control switch 18b is operated momentarily to produce a gate signal on the line 20b to activate the switching bank 42b, while the switching bank 42a is simultaneously deactivated. As a result, the control feeds 12b are each routed through corresponding switches within the switching bank 24 through the output connector 24 to the vehicle accessories 26. The control switches 18a, 18b perform the additional function of activating the discrete accessory 32, illustrated in Figure 2, as the washing function of the wiper system. When activated, the control switch 18a causes the almost instantaneous transfer of control to the control station 10a as described above. However, the logic gate 28, which is a standard OR (OR) gate, does not instantaneously activate the discrete accessory 32, even though it produces an output to the delay assemblies 30, in response to the gate signal on the line 20a. Instead, the delay assemblies 30 are deactivated unless the logic gate 28 provides a continuous output for a predetermined duration of time. This delay is achieved with a commonly known delay network, consisting of a resistor 44 and capacitor 46 in the feed to the driver gate 48 as illustrated in the Figure. 2. If the operator continuously activates the control switch 18a, for example, the logic gate 28 provides a continuous output to the delay assemblies 30, in response to the gate signal on the line 20a. The output of the logic gate 28 eventually loads the capacitor 46 on the threshold supply voltage level of the driver gate 48, causing the driver gate 48 to provide a signal to the discrete accessory 32 through the output connector 24. A similar sequence of events occurs when the operator operates the control switch 18b of the control station 10b and holds the drive beyond a predetermined duration of time. The predetermined time duration is set by the resistance and capacitance values of the resistor 44 and capacitor 46, according to the principles commonly known in the art. While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this description.

This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Furthermore, this application is intended to cover the separations of the present description that fall within the practice known or usual in the art to which this invention relates and which falls within the limits of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. CLAIMS 1. In a vehicle having multiple control stations for controlling electrically controlled vehicle accessories, a control device for switching control of the accessories between the stations, comprising: an output connector connected to the accessories; a plurality of power controls located in each of the stations for controlling the accessories, each of the plurality of power controls includes a mounting for control switching, to generate a gate signal when the control consultation assemblies are actuated for a first predetermined period of time and for actuating its corresponding accessory when the control switching assemblies are operated for a second predetermined period of time; and switchable gate assemblies from a first condition that connects one of the stations to the output connector to a second condition that connects other of the stations to the output connector, the gate assemblies respond to the gate signal generated by one of the assemblies of control switch, for switching from the first condition to the second condition and responding to the other control switching assemblies, to switch from the second condition to the first condition. Control device according to claim 1, wherein the gate assemblies include delay assemblies connected between the control switching assemblies and the output connector to receive the gate signal, the delay assemblies delay the second predetermined period of time the transmission of a signal that activates the corresponding accessory. Control device according to claim 2, wherein the gate assemblies include at least two switching banks, each of the switching banks having switches connected between the output connector and one of the power controls, the Switching banks close in response to a gate signal generated by a corresponding control switch assembly. Control device according to claim 3, wherein the switching banks are controlled by the activation assemblies connected between the switching banks and the control switching assemblies of the power controls, to close the switches of a switching bank, in response to the gate signal generated by the control switch assembly and alternately closing the switches of the other switch bank, in response to the gate signal generated by the other control switching assemblies. Control device according to claim 1, wherein the control switching assemblies comprise a wiper control switch. 6. In a vehicle having multiple control stations for electrically regulating vehicle accessories, a control device for control switch of the accessories between the stations, comprising: an output connector connected to the accessories; a power control located at each of the stations, each of the power controls includes a wiper switch to initiate a windshield washer function; and gate assemblies that respond to the wiper switch, to switch from a first condition that connects one of the stations to the output connector with a second condition that disconnects that station and connects another station to the output connector. Control device according to claim 6, wherein each of the power controls includes a plurality of switching assemblies for controlling vehicle accessories. Control device according to claim 7, wherein the gate assemblies include switching banks, each of the switching banks is connected between a respective power control and the output connector, and drive assemblies connected to the wiper switches, to activate one of the switch banks in response to one of the windshield washer switches, thereby connecting to the plurality of switch assemblies corresponding to one of the windshield control. power to the output connector and which activate another of the switching banks, in response to other windshield wiper switches, thereby deactivating the power control and connecting the plurality of switching assemblies that correspond to the other power control to the output connector. 9. Control device according to claim 6, further comprising delay assemblies to inhibit initiation of windshield washer function until the windshield washer switch is activated for a predetermined period of time. Control device according to claim 8, wherein the activation assemblies include logic having a power connected to a wiper switch, another power connected to another wiper switch, an output connected to a switching bank and another output connected to another switching bank, the logic circuits activate the switching bank, in response to actuation of a wiper switch to the exclusion of the other switching bank and activate the other switching bank in response to the other wiper switch to the exclusion of said switching bank.