Motor vehicles – With belt or harness for restraining occupant – and means... – System comprises ignition circuit or starter circuit or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-24
2001-07-17
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Motor vehicles
With belt or harness for restraining occupant, and means...
System comprises ignition circuit or starter circuit or...
C180S268000, C180S271000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260650
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for inducing seat belt usage by the driver of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a seat belt, said seat belt carrying a seat belt buckle, a latching clasp for releasable engagement of said buckle and a presence detector for acknowledging when said buckle is engaged in said latching clasp. The invention further relates to an apparatus for inducing seat belt usage, wherein, if the seat belt is used a higher maximum velocity is allowed in comparison to if the seat belt is not used.
The invention also relates to a method for inducing seat belt usage by the driver of a vehicle wherein the presence of a seat belt buckle in a latching clasp for releasable engagement of said buckle is detected by a presence detector for acknowledging when said buckle is engaged in said latching clasp. The invention further relates to a method for inducing seat belt usage, wherein, if the seat belt is used a higher maximum velocity is allowed in comparison to if the seat belt is not used.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Different incentives for inducing seat belt usage by drivers or vehicle occupants are known, for instance by legislation or by mounting of indicators for giving notice to vehicle occupants that they should wear a seat belt. These known types of incentives have not proven to be sufficiently efficient to encourage all drivers to use seat belts while driving.
A further suggestion for an apparatus and a method for inducing a vehicle occupant to use a seat belt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,955 to Howard. The Howard patent discloses an apparatus and a method where power to Occupant Comfort Units is disconnected if a person is present in a seat and is not wearing a seat belt. An Occupant Comfort Unit includes such facilities as stereo, radio, cigarette lighters, electrically controlled heating or air conditioning. However, the Howard patent apparatus is most efficient when the vehicle is standing still, since this is when Occupant Comfort Units are most commonly set and appreciated. The fact that the incentive system of the Howard patent forces the occupant to use the seat belt before driving creates an opportunity to tamper with the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for inducing a driver to use a seat belt, where the incentive occurs while driving. The invention allows the vehicle to operate at higher speeds when the driver has engaged the seat belt than when the seat belt is not engaged.
This object is achieved by an apparatus for inducing seat belt usage by the driver of a vehicle according to claim
1
or a method for inducing seat belt usage by the driver of a vehicle according to claim
6
.
The invention is achieved by providing an apparatus or a method for inducing seat belt usage by the driver of a vehicle having a vehicle control unit arranged to operate said vehicle in a first mode if the presence detector has indicated that the buckle is engaged and in a second mode if the presence detector has indicated that the buckle is not engaged and wherein, in said first mode the maximum speed of the vehicle is higher than in said second mode, and thereby the driver is induced to use the seat belt to achieve maximum velocity output of the vehicle. Particularly for truck drivers, this also coincides with maximum benefits of using a seat belt.
In preferred embodiments of the invention as claimed in the dependent claims, the increment in maximum allowed speed obtainable for the driver when belted is small. The performance of the vehicle is not severely affected by not using the belt, thereby avoiding accidents, which could occur if the vehicle would respond in an unknown manner. However, since a driver is normally paid by miles driven each day, and since mileage driven within a set time period is a function of speed, and mileage is dependant upon speed the driver would have an incentive for using the belt. Thus the invention creates a strong incentive to use the belt while driving.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3757293 (1973-09-01), Petersen, III
patent: 3784972 (1974-01-01), Hults
patent: 3787804 (1974-01-01), MacDonald
patent: 3815086 (1974-06-01), Minton et al.
patent: 3831140 (1974-08-01), Anderson, Jr. et al.
patent: 3860904 (1975-01-01), Andersen
patent: 3866167 (1975-02-01), Hirano
patent: 3935470 (1976-01-01), Cake
patent: 4319658 (1982-03-01), Collonia et al.
patent: 5394955 (1995-03-01), Howard
patent: 5404128 (1995-04-01), Ogino et al.
patent: 5610814 (1997-03-01), Sugioka et al.
patent: 5656994 (1997-08-01), Heninger
patent: 5690186 (1997-11-01), Sugioka et al.
Culbreth Eric
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Lum L.
Volvo Lastvagnar AB
LandOfFree
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