NL1041473B1

NL1041473B1 - Emergency safety drive for vehicles.

Info

Publication number: NL1041473B1
Application number: NL1041473A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Franciscus Antonius Marie Van Leuven Ing
Original assignee: Franciscus Antonius Marie Van Leuven Ing
Priority date: 2015-09-15
Filing date: 2015-09-15
Publication date: 2017-03-27

Abstract

The present invention comprises an autonomous system including an emergency propulsion device that enables a driver of a vehicle, for example a car or a bus, to move the vehicle_ over short distances whenever the primary propulsion means, the engine, of the vehicle fails to operate. In this context the term autonomous shall mean that it can function independent of the mechanics, hydraulics, electro mechanics and electronics ofthe vehicle's primary propulsion source.

Description

EMERGENCY SAFETY DRIVE FOR VEHICLES

BACKGROUND

Experiencing a sudden stop of a car due to for example an engine defect, either mechanically or electrically/electronically, is not just annoying but can be life threatening, for example, when this happens on a busy highway or a railroad crossing. An increasing number of modern cars cannot be moved at all anymore when they get immobilized due to a defect. It can't even be moved by manual pushing or towing/pushing by another vehicle. So, when such a car is immobilized for example while crossing a railroad track the only sensible action is leaving the car immediately and walking away from it to a safe spot. However, particularly, for disabled persons, elderly persons and children it will be difficult, if not impossible in many instances to get out of the car and walk to a safe area quickly. These categories of people could normally be moved much safer and faster if they could stay inside the vehicle, while the vehicle is moved instead. The present invention provides a solution that will allow the driver of a car or any other road vehicle to drive it over a short distance even when the propulsion of the vehicle experiences a total failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, also referred to by the inventor and hereinafter as the ESD (Emergency Safety Drive) or ESD system, comprises an autonomous system including an emergency propulsion device that enables a driver of a vehicle, for example a car or a bus, to move the vehicle over short distances whenever the primary propulsion means, the engine, of the vehicle fails to operate. In this context the term autonomous shall mean that it can function independent of the mechanics, hydraulics, electro mechanics and electronics of the vehicle's primary propulsion source.

In the most basic form of the autonomous ESD system according to the invention it comprises a relatively low power electric motor as the emergency propulsion device.

The system comprises means to convert the rotational forces generated by the propulsion source into rotation of the wheels and hence into movement of the vehicle. Depending on the type of vehicle the autonomous ESD may further comprise for example visual and/or audio signals that remind or instruct a driver to use the ESD when a vehicle becomes immobilized. In addition, the ESD may comprise means to override any automatic immobilization measures that may be inherent to the vehicles mechanical and/or electronic features. This includes a "Manual Override"to deactivate all built-in car electronic means to control the car's behavior in a fully or semi automatic way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The ESD can be seen as an equivalent of a parachute or a life-vest; it should always be present even though the driver never expects to use it, this until that one critical moment when he will be thankful to have this potential lifesaver on board.

Whenever the designation 'car' is used in this descriptive section it may also comprise any other type of road vehicle. A few examples of situations in which deployment of an ESD will be very important or even life saving are listed below. Every now and then cars are literally crushed by a train after remaining stuck on the tracks. These are very serious accidents that can easily be avoided by an ESD. A number of other situations in which an ESD is required or at the least is desirable: • Out of fuel and other out of energy conditions. Specifically in combination with automatic transmissions such conditions immobilize modern vehicles surprisingly fast. Drivers typically overestimate the time left to direct the vehicle to a safe spot and, therefore, regularly get stuck in dangerous spots. • Instant faults immobilizing the propulsion of a vehicle. In the past these were typically caused by intrinsic mechanical engine problems but today failure of electronics/connectors and sensors are in fact a more common root cause for instant car failures. • There is a trend to automate car driving by new safety features assisting the driver in multiple ways. This is gradually moving towards active control, most likely in the near future resulting in cars that can drive themselves autonomously under most, if not all circumstances. Some even foresee that in the future personal driving will be forbidden for example on highways. This may sound attractive but based on a risk assessment it will be obvious that it also introduces new sources of potential immobilization. For example, the software in these cars increasingly makes use of Mobile Communication networks for various reasons. • Mobile Data Network (=Public Internet) connected vehicles make them inherently vulnerable to hacktivism, manipulations and potential full remote control by criminals. ESD provides a means to enable the passengers to safely leave the car when needed, even if it requires taking over the driving via a manual override. In an extreme situation he may opt to shut down the engine and subsequently use ESD to move the car to a safe spot. • ESD potentially also remains effective after minor car accidents to move the vehicle to a safe spot if it is otherwise too damaged to move. As long as the wheels can turn to a reasonable extent ESD may still work. Specifically during head/tail collisions on highways and accidents during foggy conditions it is a good practice to move one's vehicle away to a safe spot swiftly even if the car did not collide (yet). With the increasing number of traffic lanes on highways, moving a car to a safe spot becomes more and more of a hazard.

In view of the basic differences in type and age between the vehicles that are on the market and on the road today, a wide variety of embodiments of the ESD system will be required to suit all these vehicles.

The ESD system according to the invention can be fitted in all types of current cars, irrespective of the type of propulsion and transmission systems that are applied. In fact, it is not restricted to cars and can be applied in other vehicles like for example trucks and busses. It is not relevant whether the vehicle has a conventional internal combustion engine or a futuristic fuel cell or even an atomic drive. As a matter of fact the more advanced and complicated the vehicle is the higher the added value of ESD and the more likely it is that one day it enables the driver (and its passengers) to move to a safe spot, thus allowing exiting the vehicle unharmed and without needless stress. The emergency safety drive action of the ESD can be well controlled, should be well documented and communicated to vehicle owners as part of the manual and driver instructions.

It is an option of the invention to standardize the ESD system based on measurable performance levels, such as a minimum movement distance of for example 10, 20 or 30 meters and the capability of surmounting obstructions with a height or depth of for example at least 10,15 or 25 centimeters. More advanced performance levels may also be applied, thus creating various ESD classes with increasing capabilities. The development of modern cars with batteries with a higher power storage capacity and stronger starter motors in fact almost implicitly facilitates the implementation of ESD's with better performance levels. ESD should be designed in such a way that its functionality remains available during most common mechanical, electrical, electronic and other faults causing unforeseen and uncontrolled immobilization of the vehicle. Implementation via pure electro/mechanical components with a simple design and minimal component complexity and wiring is strongly recommended.

The second main deployment of ESD is as a "Manual Override" mode. This mode is available when something goes wrong and electronics/programming take over the control of the vehicle partially or completely in an undesired way. The reason for malfunction may for example be a classic program error, malware which may have penetrated the vehicles software code or external control of the vehicle by unauthorized sources. Also dynamic interaction with other vehicles is a potential cause of malfunction. With an increasing complexity of vehicle software the likelihood of one of these causes threatening the vehicles safety/control is growing constantly. There is no such thing as 100% error free programming.

In the most basic form of the autonomous ESD system according to the invention it comprises a relatively low power electric motor as the emergency propulsion device, hereinafter also referred to as emergency propulsion source or emergency power source. Since vehicles with an internal combustion engine as the primary propulsion means, already possess an electric motor in the form of a starter motor, that is capable of moving the vehicle, using the starter motor as the propulsion device for the ESD is foreseen for various embodiments of the ESD system. This prevents adding a separate dedicated ESD electric motor and hence helps in limiting the cost of implementation of the ESD system. Depending on the size of a vehicle, and in particular the size of its engine, the power of starter motors in existing vehicles varies from slightly under 1 kW to several kW.

Steps in a procedure to deploy ESD during potentially hazardous situations may comprise for example: • Hit the commonly available safety button for alarm light activation. In this case it will also activate ESD. Other activation mechanisms can be used when and where preferred, but this suggested mechanism corresponds best with the instinctive behaviour of the average driver. • The alarm/ESD light may then provide the message "Use starter for ESD" in a basic embodiment of the ESD. Other more advanced alerting / signaling provisions like voice messages are envisioned and recommended. • For "Manual Override" a dual control is foreseen. First by activating the alarm light combined with concurrent activation of the override button. This "Manual Override Button" may for example be positioned in the vicinity of the steering wheel or be integrated in it. • The car can now be moved hitting the electric starter button or any other activation control foreseen. This can be done without the need for any outside help and avoiding the need to leave the vehicle under dangerous circumstances. • Sensors will detect and prevent overheating of the starter motor and /or other possible critical ESD components. Alerts can be tied into the signaling mechanism like voice messages. Draining the battery obviously does not require such an alert since it is inherent to the use of the starter motor as an ESD. • As an alternative an auxiliary electric motor can be used connected straight to the gearbox when needed. In this case the transmission will be shifted to neutral to decouple the engine totally. This alternative is more complex to build but will improve the likelihood of functioning also under more dramatic types of car failures and accidents.

Examples of characteristics of a number of possible embodiments of an ESD system for various types of vehicles are given below in random order. Concepts may be combined or intermixed as long as they serve the goal of ESD: moving the vehicle to a safe(r) spot when immobilized in an unsafe spot by whatever cause. 1. ESD embodiment integrated in a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine with a manual shift and without board computers.

In an embodiment for this type of vehicle only a basic ESD controller is needed. It will be connected directly to the vehicle's battery, bypassing fuse boxes and common cabling. A cable drop in fuse may be used or an inside the box fuse will protect the special circuit. Thermal heat sensors will be connected to the electric starter motor and the battery. In addition to this a small speaker is provided or a connection is made with one or more of the existing loudspeakers of the car. Furthermore, it is connected to the alarm switch button and the starter key/button. These required minimum functionalities for activation, messaging and controls probably can be retro-fitted in existing cars by using a kind of ESD kit. Even universal do-it-yourself kits are thinkable.

When activating the alarm lights the driver is alerted that ESD is available and may shift to for example 2nd gear or another suitable gear to make the car move via the starter button/key. The car will now move, avoiding strong and or potentially dangerous overheating of critical components. When ESD needs to be temporarily paused, for example due to a risk of overheating as detected by one or more temperature sensors on critical ESD components, an appropriate alert will be given. The same applies when the battery is almost fully drained. 2. ESD embodiment integrated in cars with board computers and/or other advanced electronics.

In this case ESD can also be triggered by the detection of malfunctions and/or collisions through the car electronics. It is important to maintain a one way information flow as the availability of ESD may never depend on the availability of these on-board electronics. The manual procedure via the alarm lights should be included in parallel. For the remainder the embodiment for this car type is similar to that of the type of cars discussed under embodiment 1 above. 3. Integration in cars with automatic transmissions, including most hybrid cars.

In this case ESD needs to be integrated in the transmission as currently most implementations put the transmission into gear when the vehicle is stopped. The starter is then blocked. In order to start, the brake must be pressed together with activation of the starter which activates a gear shift to neutral.

An embodiment of ESD for this type of cars just needs to invert this function. Automatic transmissions typically work with a hydraulic system moving the parts for gear selections and gear lock-ups. These hydraulic systems were mainly controlled mechanically in the past but modern cars typically use computer control via activators/valves.

In this embodiment of ESD it may need to be equipped with a small independent hydraulic pump to activate the essential movements of transmission components. These auxiliary hydraulics may be kept as simple as possible, but should be able to deal with any position of the transmission system when immobilized.

When this embodiment of ESD is activated the starter is enabled without shifting the transmission first to neutral. Cars with a robot activated traditional gear or a dual clutch mechanism can work in a similar way. The brake does not need to be activated and neither does the clutch. ESD just straightforwardly activates the starter motor bypassing the safety mechanisms of a regular start procedure. As mentioned above auxiliary hydraulics may be needed to shift to the optimal gear. This keeps embodiments simple and increases the likelihood that it works to the maximum even after minor collisions. Operation is extremely simple and now reduced to the activation of the starter button/key after an "ESD is operational" or similar message is heard. 4. ESD embodiment for cars provided with MHD (Mild Hybrid Drive) and/or Start/Stop provisions

The number of cars with such provisions is growing rapidly for economic reasons (part of the green revolution). They are combined with cars of the types discussed under point 2 and point 3 above. There is a natural fit here with ESD as they typically have a more powerful battery and a more powerful starter/generator making those components very suitable as ESD components. These cars can potentially be driven on the battery over relatively long distances and ESD embodiments for these vehicles don't need to be more complex. 5. ESD embodiment for integration in full EV's (Electrical Vehicles)

There are a number of possible embodiments to include ESD in full EV's. It can be done for example by an additional, auxiliary electric motor, independent wiring as part of the main motor or for example using E-motor type integrated wheel drives. The basic requirement is that it remains as much as possible independent of the main propulsion and electronics.

It is possible to use the low voltage battery used for board equipment, traditionally being 12V or 24V, as the energy source. But it is also possible to use a relatively low power DC/DC convertor integrated into ESD activating a low voltage emergency electric motor or emergency windings on the main motor. The whole system is then fed by the main battery. The DC/DC convertor should be able to work with a wide variation on the input voltage making it capable of dealing also with partially failing main batteries. It should work also with for example failing battery temperature controls and other BMS (Battery Management System) provisions. 6. "Manual Override mode" as a supplementary ESD embodiment

Such an embodiment is specifically meant for vehicles with partially or fully autonomous drive provisions. It enables the driver to intervene when something goes seriously wrong. This could for example be a "runaway condition" or a "remote control / hijack situation". The "Manual Override" can be activated by a special button combined with the standard ESD activation. The double button concurrent activation is suggested to avoid accidental activations by passengers. For the same reason it is suggested to be integrated into or positioned in the direct vicinity of the steering wheel.

Manual Override will in the first stage deactivate all computer controls and put the car in semi-automatic mode. It then can still be driven normally but requires manual up/down controls (controlled without any type of computer intervention). In the simplest form the gearbox stays in the position it was in when the Manual Override mode was activated. After the vehicle is brought to a stop, the standard ESD mode can be used as the next step when and where required.

Obviously additional visual and audio signaling needs to be implemented for this mode. 7. ESD embodiment for trucks and busses

The concept of ESD is perfectly applicable to trucks and busses. For trucks there is no existing component that can perform the function of the emergency power source, since the power difference between the electric starter and the engine probably is too big, particularly if the truck is fully loaded. Therefore, an ESD embodiment for trucks will need a dedicated medium power provision in order to make it effective. However, the case for busses is quite different, since modern bus designs often include provisions for re-generation of brake energy in various forms. These energy sources can be tapped for the ESD. Also the need for an ESD provision is far greater for busses as many passengers are being transported and hence need to be rescued in case of an emergency. The likelihood that some of those passengers are children, elderly people or people with a physical impairment is very high. Specifically these groups are known to make intensive use of buses and public transport in general.

The invention is not to be limited by what has been particularly described, except as indicated by the appended claims. The invention includes any embodiment of an autonomous drive that can perform the function of an ESD.

Claims

An emergency drive system for a vehicle, which system is capable of propelling the vehicle over a limited distance after the vehicle has been stopped due to a mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, electronic or other defect in the vehicle's primary drive system, characterized in that the emergency drive system comprises an emergency power source and one or more of the means from the group comprising: - signaling means; - means for operating the emergency power source; - means for measuring the temperature of critical components of the emergency drive system; - means for switching off the emergency drive system depending on the temperature of critical components of the emergency drive system; - means for eliminating measures applied in the vehicle for automatically immobilizing the vehicle in the event of certain malfunctions.

Emergency drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that the emergency drive system is autonomous.

Emergency drive system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the emergency power source comprises an electric motor.

Emergency drive system according to claim 3, characterized in that the electric motor comprises the starter motor of the primary drive system.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signaling means provide a visual and / or an audio signal.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the audio signal comprises a spoken announcement.

Emergency drive system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the audio signal is reproduced by at least one of the speakers present in the vehicle as standard.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for operating the emergency drive system comprise the control button of the hazard warning lights, the ignition lock or the start button of the vehicle.

Emergency drive system according to claim 8, characterized in that the means for actuating the emergency drive system comprise a part of the standard electronics in the vehicle.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the emergency drive system comprises means for influencing the automatic transmission of a vehicle.

Emergency drive system according to claim 10, characterized in that the means for influencing the automatic transmission comprise an independent hydraulic pump.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the emergency power source comprises an electric motor integrated in a wheel of the vehicle.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the emergency drive system comprises a control button in partly or entirely self-driving vehicles with which the automatic control of the vehicle is switched off.

Emergency drive system according to claim 13, characterized in that the control button with which the automatic steering of the vehicle is switched off is located in, on or in the immediate vicinity of the steering wheel of the vehicle.

Emergency drive system according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical supply of the emergency drive system comprises braking energy recovered.