Abstract:
An event sensing component includes a housing, wherein the housing includes a first tube that is provided along an entire length of the housing, and a second tube that is provided along the entire length of the housing. The housing also includes a first connector provided at one end of the first tube and configured to couple with a first bypass tube that is attached at another end to another traffic sensing component. The housing further includes a second connector provided at one end of the second tube and configured to couple with a second bypass tube that is attached at another end to the another traffic sensing component.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention is a method and apparatus for use when counting and classifying vehicular traffic, in general. In particular, the invention provides both a method and a portable, durable, apparatus for discriminating the counting and classification of vehicular traffic in multiple lanes when traveling in either the same or opposing directions.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
       [0002]     Systems exist which record events by counting pneumatic pulses. Vehicular traffic counters, which respond to pneumatic pulses when a vehicle crosses over a pneumatic tube, are one example of such systems.  FIG. 1  illustrates one such conventional vehicular traffic counting system.  FIG. 1  shows a system configured to count two lanes of traffic using four pneumatic tubes connected to a conventional acoustic or pneumatic pulse counter, used in traffic counting applications. In  FIG. 1 , a vehicle traveling in Lane  1  crosses and compresses pneumatic tubes  101 ,  102 ,  103  and  104 , thereby creating four acoustic or pneumatic pulses. A vehicle traveling in lane  2  crosses only pneumatic tubes  102  and  104 , creating only two acoustic or pneumatic pulses. Based on the timing of the signals it receives, counter  105  determines whether the vehicle has passed in lane one or lane two and increments the count appropriately. One difficulty with such systems is that they require a large number of pneumatic tubes, which must be individually installed across the road and connected to the counter. The large number of tubes and their individual connections requires long set-up times with consequent personal risk to the installing technician. Such systems are also susceptible to reliability problems resulting from the number of vulnerable connections. In addition, the pneumatic tubes themselves are subject to damage from the constant stress induced by vehicular traffic.  
         [0003]     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, entitled Acoustic Pulse Transfer System for Event Counting, which is assigned to the same entity as this application, and which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, describes a three-tube traffic sensing system that is utilized to sense and count traffic passing through different lanes of a road. In that three-tube traffic sensing and counting system, the traffic count on each lane of the road is determined separately from the traffic count on the other lanes. The traffic sensing system utilizes one or more three-tube components connected to each other, or supplied as a single unit, whereby one such three-tube traffic component  301  is shown in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 2  shows the coupling of three separate three-tube traffic components  201 ,  202 ,  203  to each other, in order to separately count traffic on three lanes of a road (by way of a counter  204  that is connected to a road-side end the three-tube traffic component  203 ).  
         [0004]     While such a traffic sensing system as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389 has been successfully implemented in the field, it is desired to come up with a system that operates just as well as that three-tube traffic component system, but which is less costly to manufacture and easier and safer to set up in the field.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     One aspect of the invention relates to a traffic sensing component, which includes a housing. The housing includes a first tube that is usually provided along an entire length of the housing. The housing also includes a second tube that may be provided along the entire length of the housing. The housing further includes a first connector provided at one end of the first tube that may be configured to couple with a first bypass tube and that is attached at some point along its length to a traffic sensing component, at another end to another traffic counting component. The housing still further includes a second connector provided at one end of the second tube and configured to couple with a second bypass tube that is attached at the other end to another traffic sensing component.  
         [0006]     Another aspect of the invention relates to a traffic sensing system, which includes a three-tube traffic sensing component. The three-tube traffic sensing component includes a housing, a first tube provided in the center portion of the housing, the first or center tube being configured to detect traffic passing over a first lane of a road on which the three-tube traffic sensing component is provided, a second tube provided in the side portion of the housing, the second tube corresponding to a first bypass tube, and a third tube provided on the another side portion of the housing, the third tube corresponding to a second bypass tube. The traffic counting system also includes a two-tube traffic sensing component. The two-tube traffic sensing component includes a housing, a first tube that may be provided along an entire length of the housing, a second tube that may be provided along the entire length of the housing, a first connector provided at one end of the first tube and configured to couple with a first bypass tube that is attached at another end to another traffic counting component, and a second connector provided at one end of the second tube and configured to couple with a second bypass tube that is attached at another end to the another traffic sensing component. The two-tube traffic sensing component is provided on the second and third lanes of the road, and wherein the two-tube traffic sensing component is connected to the three-tube traffic sensing component so as to detect traffic passing over the second and third lanes of the road.  
         [0007]     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many modifications and changes within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The exemplary embodiments will hereafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals depict like elements, and:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional traffic sensing system;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  shows a traffic counting system that utilizes only three-tube traffic sensing components, as described in a related patent application;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a three-tube traffic sensing component as described in a related patent application;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4A  shows a traffic sensing system according to a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4B  shows a traffic sensing system according to a second embodiment of the invention  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a top perspective view of a two-tube traffic sensing component utilized in the systems shown in either  FIGS. 4A  or  4 B;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows a side view of the two-tube traffic sensing component utilized in the systems shown in either  FIGS. 4A  or  4 B;  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  shows details of a barbed connector that may be utilized in the systems shown in either  FIGS. 4A  or  4 B; and  
         [0017]      FIGS. 8A-8G  show different housing structures for a two- or a three-tube component that may be used in either the first or second embodiments. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident to one skilled in the art, however, that the exemplary embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, structures and device are shown in diagram form in order to facilitate description of the exemplary embodiments.  
         [0019]      FIG. 4A  shows a traffic sensing system  300  according to a first embodiment of the invention. The traffic sensing system  300  includes a three-tube component  301 , such as the one shown in  FIG. 3 , which is provided on a first lane of a road for which traffic is to be counted. As described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, the three-tube component  301  includes a center tube  310  and two side tubes  308 ,  309 . The center tube  310  is seated within a groove or hole  302  of the three-tube component  301 , whereby the center tube  310  is configured to identify vehicles on the first lane of traffic on which the center tube  310  is disposed. The side tube  308  is seated within a groove or hole  303  of the three-tube component, and the side tube  309  is seated within a groove or hole  304  of the three-tube component.  
         [0020]     For a road which has 12-feet wide lanes, the three-tube component  301  is twelve (12) feet in length. For a road which has 15-feet wide lanes, the three-tube component  301  is fifteen (15) feet in length. As a vehicle passes over the three-tube component  301  on the first lane of the road, the vehicle deforms the center tube  310  to cause the top and bottom portions of the top tube  310  to compress or deform. This causes an acoustic or pneumatic pulse to occur within the interior of the center tube  310 , whereby that acoustic or pneumatic pulse is detected and counted by a separate detector/counter (see counter  204  in  FIG. 2 , whereby this detector/counter may correspond to detector/counter  220  in  FIG. 4 ) provided at the edge of the road closest to the first lane (the edge of the road being an area which traffic does not pass over). Based on the number of acoustic or pneumatic pulses received, a count can be obtained of the number of vehicles passing over the first lane of traffic within a particular time period (e.g., during rush hours between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., or between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.). The manner by which traffic is counted in the first lane of the road by a detector/counter attached to a traffic counting system is similar to that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389.  
         [0021]     Unlike the traffic sensing system described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, a two-tube component is utilized for sensing traffic in second and third lanes of the road (whereby multiple three-tube traffic components are used to count traffic in lanes other than the first lane in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, such as is shown in  FIG. 2 ). In more detail, in the first embodiment, a two-tube component  210 , which, for a 12-foot wide lane configuration, is 24 feet wide and is provided over second and third lanes of the road (total width of those two lanes being 24 feet), and whereby the two-tube component  210  is connected to the three-tube component  301 , as shown in  FIG. 4A . The left-side tube  309  of the three-tube component  301 , referred to herein as a first bypass tube, is connected to a left-side tube  212  of the two-tube component  210 , while the right-side tube  308  of the three-tube component  301 , referred to herein as a second bypass tube, is connected to a right-side tube  214  of the two-tube component  210 . For a 15-foot wide lane configuration, the two-tube component  210  is 30 feet in length, and spans the second and third lanes of a road having such 15-foot wide lanes.  
         [0022]     Referring now to  FIG. 4A  as well as to  FIG. 5 , which shows a top perspective view of the two-tube component  210 , and  FIG. 6 , which shows a side view of the two-tube component  210 , a first rubber connector tube  240  provides an air-tight coupling of the left tube  309  of the three-tube component  301  to the left side-tube  212  of the two-tube component  210 , while a second rubber connector tube  250  provides an air-tight coupling of the right side-tube  308  of the three-tube component  301  to the right side-tube  214  of the two-tube component  210 . The first and second rubber connector tubes  240 ,  250  can be positioned on a portion of the road corresponding to where the first lane of traffic and the second lane of traffic meet (e.g., the dashed lines on the road separating the first and second lanes of traffic), so that they are subject to little stress from traffic passing thereover.  
         [0023]     As seen best in  FIG. 5 , the two-tube component  210  includes barbed tube connectors  216 ,  218  on one end of each of the left-side and right side tubes  212 ,  214 . The barbed tube connectors  216 ,  218  allow the first and second rubber connector tubes  240 ,  250  to be coupled to the left-side and right side tubes  212 ,  214  in a secure, air-tight manner, and to allow air to pass from within the tubes  212 ,  214  to the rubber connectors  240 ,  250 . In one possible implementation of the first embodiment, the first and second rubber connector tubes  240 ,  250  are a few inches (e.g., 1 to 6 inches) in length. The other end of the two-tube component  210  is open, whereby one of the two tubes has a plug provided at that other end, to be described in detail hereinbelow.  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  shows details of the barbed tube connectors  216 ,  218 . Each barbed tube connector  216 ,  218  is sized so that its bottom portion  730  is fitted within the respective tube  212 ,  214  (shown as dashed lines in  FIG. 7 ), whereby the top portion of the barbed connector  216 ,  218  has a flat part  720  that fits against the outer part of the respective tube  212 ,  214 , to provide an air-tight fit. The barbed tube connectors  216 ,  218  are preferably glued in placed at the ends of the respective tubes  212 ,  214 . The barbed tube connector  216 ,  218  also includes a nipple portion  710  for allowing the respective rubber connector tube  240 ,  250  to fitted thereto in an air-tight manner. One barbed tube connector  216  is preferably colored white, and the other barbed connector  218  is preferably colored black, so that installation of the traffic sensing system  300  may be made without any misconnections. The connectors may be a PVDF or Nylon material construction.  
         [0025]     Referring back to  FIG. 4A , a first plug  260  is provided at a middle position within the left-side tube  212 , whereby that middle position may correspond to a portion of the road corresponding to where the second lane of traffic and the third lane of traffic meet (e.g., the dashed lines on the road separating the second and third lanes of traffic). With the first plug  260  in place within the left-side tube  212 , any traffic passing over the third lane of traffic will not result in acoustic or pneumatic pulses being provided to the first bypass tube  309  of the three-tube component  301  (and thereby to a second detector/counter  222  provided at an end of the first bypass tube  309 ), since the first plug  260  will block those acoustic or pneumatic pulses from traveling into the portion of the left-side tube  212  disposed on the second lane of traffic. The first plug  260  may be a rubber or a plastic or a metal component, whereby it provides an air-tight seal within the left-side tube  212 .  
         [0026]     The first plug  260  may be fitted into the middle position of the left-side tube  212  by fitting the first plug  260  through an access hole  262  (shown as dashed lines in  FIG. 4A ) provided adjacent the middle position of the left-side tube  212 . Once the first plug  260  is fitted in place, the access hole  262  is sealed by a sealant, so that no air can escape through the access hole  262  to the exterior environment. Also, a polypropelene woven mesh with a bithuthane mastic tape provided thereon may be laid over the access hole  262 , in order to provide an even better seal and to facilitate the location of the plug during installation.  
         [0027]     Accordingly, when a vehicle passes over the second lane of the road, it will make contact with the left-side tube  212 . That contact deforms the left-side tube  212  to cause the top and bottom portions of the left-side tube  212  to come into contact (or come close to coming into contact) with each other. This causes an acoustic or pneumatic pulse to occur within the open interior of the left-side tube  212 , whereby that acoustic or pneumatic pulse is detected and thereby counted by the second detector/counter  222  connected in an air-tight manner to an end of the left-side tube  309  (of the three-tube component  301 ). The second detector/counter  222  is provided at the edge of the road closest to the first lane (the edge of the road being an area which traffic does not pass over). The acoustic or pneumatic pulses due to vehicles passing over the third lane of the road and making contact with the portion of the left-side tube  212  on the third lane of the road are blocked from reaching the first rubber connector tube  240  (and therefore blocked from reaching the second detector/counter  222 ), due to the first plug  260 .  
         [0028]     To identify and count vehicles passing over the third lane of the road, an incompressible but flexible bypass tube  270  is fitted within the first 12 feet (the portion disposed on the second lane of the road) of the right-side tube  214 . The bypass tube  270  may be made of hard, flexible plastic or hardened rubber or metal material, and is provided so that vehicles passing over the portion of the right-side tube  214  within the second lane of the road will not cause the right-side tube  214  to deform, and thus will not result in acoustic or pneumatic pulses being provided to a third detector/counter  224  connected in an air-tight manner to an end of the right-side bypass tube  308  of the three-tube component  301 . The bypass tube  270  has a hollow center region to allow acoustic or pneumatic pulses to pass from a portion of the right-side tube  214  that is provided on the third lane of the road, whereby those acoustic or pneumatic pulses are received by the third detector/counter  224  (by way of the second rubber connector tube  250  and the right-side tube  308 ), and thereby detected and counted.  
         [0029]     A second plug  280  is provided at an end of the right-side tube  214  that is at the edge of the third lane of the road (the edge of the road), in order that acoustic or pneumatic pulses caused by vehicles making contact with the right-side tube  214  on the third lane of the road are directed towards the third detector/counter  224 . The material construction of the second plug  280  may be similar to the material construction of the first plug  260 , or it may be different, depending upon the particular manufacturing process utilized.  
         [0030]     By way of a vehicle sensing system  300  as shown in  FIG. 4A , the right-most twelve feet (or fifteen feet, depending upon the width of lanes on the road for which traffic is to be sensed) of the left-side tube  212  that is provided over the second lane of the road corresponds to an active sensor region, while the left-most 12 feet (or 15 feet, depending upon the width of lanes on the road for which traffic is to be sensed) of the left-side tube  212  that is provided over the third lane of the road corresponds to an inactive sensor region. Similarly, the left-most twelve feet (or fifteen feet, depending upon the width of lanes on the road for which traffic is to be sensed) of the right-side tube  214  that is provided over the third lane of the road corresponds to an active sensor region, while the right-most 12 feet (or 15 feet, depending upon the width of lanes on the road for which traffic is to be sensed) of the right-side tube  214  that is provided over the second lane of the road corresponds to an inactive sensor region. With the three-tube component  301  counting vehicles passing over the first lane, and with the second-tube component  210  counting vehicles passing over the second and third lanes, a traffic counting system  300  is provided that is less costly to manufacture than the traffic counting systems described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, and which is just as sturdy and accurate as those systems.  
         [0031]      FIG. 4B  shows a traffic sensing system  301  according to a second embodiment of the invention, for sensing traffic on three separate lanes of a road. The traffic sensing system  301  includes a two-tube component  302  that spans the entire three lanes of the road. The left side-tube  212  has a bypass tube  270  fitted into a first portion of the left side-tube  212  that corresponds to the first lane of the road. A second portion of the left side-tube  212  that spans the second lane of the road corresponds to an active region of the left side-tube, and is shown with XXXXs to indicate that in  FIG. 4B . A plug  260  is provided at an area of the left side-tube  212  corresponding to where the second lane of the road and the third lane of the road meet. A detector  222  is connected to the left side-tube  212 , whereby the detector  222  receives acoustic or pneumatic pulses that are used to sense and detect traffic passing over the second lane of the road.  
         [0032]     The two-tube component  302  of the traffic sensing system  301  also includes a right side-tube  214  that has a bypass tube  270  fitted into a first portion of the right side-tube  214  that corresponds to the first and second lanes of the road. A second portion of the right side-tube  214  that spans the third lane of the road corresponds to an active region of the right side-tube, and is shown with XXXXs to indicate that in  FIG. 4B . A plug  280  is provided at the end of the right side-tube  214 . A detector  224  is connected to the right side-tube  214 , whereby the detector  224  receives acoustic or pneumatic pulses that are used to sense and detect traffic passing over the third lane of the road.  
         [0033]     The traffic sensing system  301  also includes a separate sensor  303  for sensing traffic passing over the first lane of the road. The separate sensor  303  may be a single tube sensor, or any other type of sensor, and is connected to a detector  220 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the tube-tube component  302  and the separate sensor  303  span a length of the road that may include the shoulder of the road. In that regard, the two-tube component  202  is at least 45 feet in length to cover three 15-foot wide lanes, or is at least 36 feet in length to cover three 12-foot wide lanes, whereby an additional 2 feet or so is provided above those lengths to span a shoulder of the road.  
         [0034]     As shown in  FIG. 6 , by way of example and not by way of limitation, each of the left side-tube  212  and the right side-tube  214  of the two-tube component  210  is 0.185″ in diameter, with a 0.25″ distance between the left side-tube  212  and the right side-tube  214 . Also, by way of example and not by way of limitation, the two-tube component  210  is 0.375″ in total height, and 0.85″ in total width. The surface of the two-tube component  210  that is in contact with the road surface may be provided with ridges  280 , so as to provide a good grip for maintaining the two-two component in place on the road. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the distance between adjacent ridges is 0.025″. On the other side of the two-tube component  210  that contacts with vehicles passing thereover, a trough  290  may be provided, in order to increase the sensitivity of the left- and right-side tubes  212 ,  214  with respect to vehicles passing thereover. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the trough  290  has a 0.072″ radius, and is provided in an area between the left-side tube  212  and the right-side tube  214 .  
         [0035]      FIGS. 8A-8G  show alternate housing shapes  801 ,  802 ,  803 ,  804 ,  805 ,  806  and  807  of the two-tube component that may be utilized in either the first or second embodiments. The housing shapes  806  and  807  shown in  FIGS. 8F and 8G  include a third tube in the housing that may be used as the separate sensor  303  of  FIG. 4B . In more detail, shape  801  and shape  807  have arcuate top surfaces over the tubes, with a trough between the tubes. Shape  802  has a flat top surface and arcuate side surfaces. Shapes  803  and  806  have flat top surfaces and flat side surfaces, with a curved region where the top surface and the side surfaces meet. Shapes  804  and  805  have parabolic shaped side surfaces, whereby shape  804  has a flat top surface and shape  805  has a trough on its top surface.  
         [0036]     In one possible implementation of the first or second embodiment, the cover profile (housing) for the two-tube component is 60-70 shore A durometer EPDM rubber, the bypass tubes are Nylon or PVDF, the plugs are EPDM or silicon rubber or Nylon, and the connectors are Nylon or PVDF. As discussed above, other constructions for those elements of the tube-tube component may be utilized while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.  
         [0037]     Many other changes and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. The scope of these and other changes will become apparent from the appended claims. For example, while the present invention is described with respect to sensing and counting vehicular traffic on a road, other components, such as boxes traveling on a conveyor, may be sensed and counted by a system in accordance with the present invention. Also, other types of three-tube traffic counting components, such as the ones described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/270,389, may be coupled to a two-tube traffic counting component as described above, in alternative implementations of the present invention.