Electricity: motive power systems – Automatic and/or with time-delay means – Moisture content or wetness
Patent
1985-07-03
1986-10-28
Roskoski, Bernard
Electricity: motive power systems
Automatic and/or with time-delay means
Moisture content or wetness
318444, 318480, 318DIG2, 15250C, B60S 108
Patent
active
046201416
ABSTRACT:
An electronic control system for windshield wipers on motor vehicles for initiating wiping action in response to the occurrence and level of precipitation on the windshield. A sensor unit comprising a block containing an array of photo-sensors arranged in a bridge configuration and a corresponding array of light sources is mounted on the inside surface of the windshield at a location traversed by the path of the vehicle's windshield wiper blades. The photo-sensor elements are oriented to normally receive light reflected back from the glass/air interface at the outside windshield surface from the photo-emitters, but when rain is present on the windshield, the light rays are scattered to create an unbalanced condition. The unbalancing of the bridge creates a signal which is demodulated in a synchronous demodulator and then applied via an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit to a window comparator. The comparator output is, in turn, applied to a voltage-controlled oscillator such that the frequency of the pulse produced thereby is determined by the precipitation level. The oscillator output then is applied to a wiper motor relay to pulse the same into operation. The use of the synchronous demodulator, AGC error amplifier and window comparator results in a system which operates in a reliable manner under severe ambient conditions.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3743056 (1973-07-01), Zitelli et al.
patent: 4131834 (1978-12-01), Blaszkowski
patent: 4355271 (1982-10-01), Noack
patent: 4463294 (1984-07-01), Gibson
patent: 4476419 (1984-10-01), Fukatsu et al.
patent: 4481450 (1984-11-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4495452 (1985-01-01), Boegh-Peterson
McCumber Roger D.
Teder Rein S.
Haugen Orrin M.
Nikolai Thomas J.
Ro Bentsu
Roskoski Bernard
Vericom Corp.
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