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Patently Speaking highlights the technological achievements of Fort Wayne area residents.
•U.S. Patent No. 7,537,365
•Invented by: Jason E. McVay, Fort Wayne; Burnell L. Bender, Woodburn; Allen R. Wittman, Convoy, Ohio; and Joseph R. Turner, Huntertown
•Assigned to International Truck Intellectual Property Co. LLC, Warrenville, Ill.
At one time or another, all motorists have experienced the hazards of driving in fog. In northeastern Indiana the early-morning fog can be quite thick.
The second rule of driving in the fog (the first rule being slow down) is never use your high-beam lights. Seeing through fog is difficult enough, but illuminating that fog at your field of vision creates a glare that makes seeing while driving almost impossible. This is why fog lights are below the bumper. They do not shine as high and, thus, produce less glare.
If your vehicle does not have fog lights, your only option is to use your low- beam lights.
Although low beams are better than high beams, they still produce glare. This is because even though low-beam lights are directed downward toward the road, a portion of the light beam illuminates above the center line of the lamp, and it is that upper portion of the beam that causes the glare.
This patent addresses the problem by describing a low-beam auto lamp that is specifically designed to mask out that upper portion of the beam that causes glare during fog conditions. One way this is accomplished is by using tiltable blinds, similar to Venetian blinds, that are placed on the top end of the lamp to block out the upper portion of the light beam.
Alternatively, a special filter can be used to diffuse that upper portion of light. This filter prohibits the light that reflects on the fog from passing through the lamp.
•U.S. Patent No. 7,538,543
•Invented by: Joseph M. Nicolosi, Fort Wayne
•Assigned to Continental Automotive Systems US Inc., Auburn Hills, Mich.
A few editions ago, we examined a patent directed to brake-by-wire electronic car braking systems. In that patent, electronics on the brake pedal, rather than hydraulic pressure, is used to stop the car.
As electronics replace fluid-actuated control systems, it is important these replacements have redundancy systems, just as their prior hydraulic counterpart did. Many critical systems in vehicles have backup systems. For example, hydraulic systems that move flaps on aircraft have complete backup hydraulic systems to take over in case of failure.
This patent describes a backup system for the brake pedal in case the main electronic system fails to detect the pedal is being depressed.
This system includes a rotating post that extends from the pedal arm which rotates as the pedal is being depressed. Attached to the rotating post are two magnetic sensors that detect the relative positioning of a magnetic field. Stationary magnets are positioned on each side of the two sensors so as the pedal is depressed, the bar rotates the sensors to different positions relative to the magnets.
These sensors detect this movement and calculate the position of the foot pedal. If the primary system ever fails, this backup system will know the exact position of the pedal and can take over.
The preceding are lay descriptions of patents obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s public records and are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing contained herein is a legal description of any claimed invention, identification of novelty, or offer of legal advice. Because issued patents are based on applications often filed years earlier, the subject matter of some patents may have been available on the market for some time prior to the issuance of the patent. Additional information on these patents is available at www.uspto.gov.
