Reversing alarm
AssigneesYamaguchi Electric Ind. Co. Limited, Brigade Electronics Plc
InventorsChristopher Hanson-Abbott, Masato Yamashita
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reversing alarm for a vehicle emits an audible signal in the form of pulses of broad band sound when the vehicle is put into reverse gear. The broad band sound allows persons in the vicinity to locate the vehicle, as the human brain is able to process broad band sound to pinpoint the location of the sound source in a way which is not possible with single tone sounds. The alarm is implemented via a simple electronic circuit which uses a zener diode as a signal generator 20 to generate the broad band sound.
Claims52
A reversing alarm for a vehicle, said reversing alarm comprising:
- a signal generating device,
- said signal generating device including a zener diode as a broad-band signal generating component thereof to generate only a broad band sound signal, and a speaker connected only to said broad band sound signal from which only broad band sound is emitted.
A method for producing an audible signal from a reversing alarm for a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
- generating a broad band sound signal comprising a sound signal of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the signal and excludes pure tonal sound signals and other sound signals that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the sound signal of substantially uniform intensity,
- narrowing the bandwidth of the broad band sound signal before emission of the audible signal from the reversing alarm,
- intermittently driving a muting circuit with an intermittent signal generator to alternately block and pass the broad band sound signal to produce pulsed bursts of sound, and
- compressing and reshaping the corners of the pulsed bursts of sound with a clipper circuit, and
- emitting only the compressed and reshaped broad band sound signal in pulsed bursts as said audible signal.
A reversing alarm for a vehicle which in use produces an audible signal, said reversing alarm comprising:
- a signal generating device to generate a broad band sound signal comprising a sound signal of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the signal and excludes pure tonal sound signals and other sound signals that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the sound signal of substantially uniform intensity,
- bandwidth narrowing means for narrowing the bandwidth of the broad band sound signal before emission of the audible signal, in which the audible signal is emitted in pulsed bursts,
- a muting circuit, the muting circuit intermittently driven by an intermittent signal generator, which acts to alternately block and pass the broad band sound signal to produce a pulsed signal,
- a clipper circuit which compresses and reshapes the corners of the pulsed signal, and
- a speaker for attachment to said vehicle and connected to said clipper circuit that produces only said audible signal.
A reversing alarm for a vehicle which in use produces an audible signal, said reversing alarm comprising:
- a signal generating device to generate a broad band sound signal comprising a sound of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the signal and excludes pure tonal sound signals and other sound signals that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the sound signal of substantially uniform intensity, and
- circuitry for processing and emitting only the broad band sound signal as said audible signal.
A sound alarm apparatus for warning persons in the immediate area of a vehicle of the movement of the vehicle, said sound alarm apparatus comprising:
- an electronic signal generating circuit that produces an output broad band sound signal comprising a sound signal of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the signal and excludes pure tonal sound signals and other sound signals that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the sound signal of uniform intensity,
- a speaker connected only to said electronic signal generating circuit for producing only broad band output sounds comprising sound signals of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the sounds and excludes pure tonal sounds and other sounds that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the broad band sound, and
- a housing containing said electronic signal generating circuit and said speaker, said housing being configured to be mounted to a vehicle.
In a vehicle of the type having an alarm that is automatically activated to warn persons in the vicinity of the vehicle of the potential movement of the vehicle in at least a reverse direction by emitting an audible warning signal, the improvement wherein said alarm comprises an electronic signal generating circuit that produces an audible warning signal consisting of an output broad band sound comprising sound of substantially uniform intensity over an audible frequency range that can be processed by a human to locate the source of the signal and excludes pure tonal sounds and other sounds that materially affect the dissipation or reduction in noise nuisance of the sound of substantially uniform intensity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.