Patent · US Expired

Apparatus for visually indicating a current travel route of a vehicle

US4494116A · kind A · utility

6Cited by
4References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 2, 1981
Grant dateJan 15, 1985
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 2, 2001

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01C21/26
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A visual travel route indicating apparatus, for use in an automotive vehicle or the like, including a distance sensor for detecting a current distance of travel of the vehicle, a gas rate sensor for detecting a current azimuthal deviation generated by the vehicle during a turning motion, a thermostatic control chamber for enclosing the gas rate sensor hermetically from external temperature fluctuations, and a signal processing unit for arithmetically obtaining a current location plotted on two-dimensional coordinates per a given unit travel distance of the vehicle from the outputs of the two sensors and storing the thus-obtained location data in sequence so as to be read out subsequently for a continuous visual indication of a current locus of the vehicle on a display. The power supply to the thermostatic control chamber is optimally controlled in conjunction with the on/off state of the ignition switch of the vehicle. The visual indication of a current travel route of the vehicle is inhibited until the atmospheric temperature of the thermostatic chamber reaches a desired constant level, whereupon the offset adjustment of the gas rate sensor output is automatically normalized so as…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.