Mitigating the risk of vehicle backover incidents
AssigneeJon P. Moldestad
InventorJON P. MOLDESTAD
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A safety system is provided that will (i) operate automatically, regardless of distraction or error by the driver or the backover victim; (ii) operate unaffected by the blindspots that block the driver's view or background noise that block audible alarms for the driver or the backover victim; (iii) operate through an external activation, intentional or unintentional, by the potential backover victim or passerby; and/or (iv) remove driver discretion by causing the vehicle to stop upon activation of the safety system by the potential backover victim or passerby.
Claims20
An external actuator system for mitigating the risk of heavy commercial vehicle backover incidents, comprising:
- an actuator mechanism having a front surface, a back surface, and a surface for operably attaching the actuator mechanism to a vehicle with an attachment mechanism, wherein the actuator mechanism extends to the ground and is adapted to leave a distance of no more than about 12″ between the actuator mechanism and the ground;
- an alert device that is (i) a braking mechanism and a breaker switch, wherein the actuation of the safety switch powers the braking mechanism to stop the vehicle and (ii) activates the breaker switch to shut off the engine of the vehicle;
- and,
- a safety switch configured for an actuation by an application of a force to the back surface of the actuator mechanism only when the vehicle is in reverse to avoid falsings from a wind blowing on the actuator mechanism;
- wherein the actuation of the switch activates the alert device to alert a driver of the vehicle that the force has been applied through an external activation to mitigate the risk of an individual being struck and crushed by the rear wheels of the vehicle while the vehicle is backing up.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.