Patent Publication Number: US-6909962-B2

Title: Traffic safety caution apparatus for distinguishing running direction of vehicles

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a traffic safety caution apparatus, and more particularly to a traffic safety caution apparatus having function of distinguishing the running direction of a vehicle. 
   DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
   As an improvement of road quality, the running speed of a vehicle is increased continually. Meanwhile, the number of traffic accidents is also increasing. One of the important factors is that the drivers do not follow the requirements of the traffic safety caution. Also, some traffic accidents are caused due to the caution signs not being noticed by the drivers. Conventional traffic safety caution signs are visual signals such as marks, characters or light. In most case, such a traffic safety caution sign has disadvantages which could not make drivers pay sufficient attention to it, and the traffic safety caution signs scatter the attention of the driver in driving. The possibility of accidents is therefore increased. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a traffic safety caution apparatus which can distinguish the running direction of vehicles with ultrasonic wave, provide vehicles with various safety caution information in associate with the site where a vehicle is located, thereby overcoming the disadvantages in prior art. Further, the traffic safety caution apparatus of the invention can be developed to supply other kinds of prompting information. 
   According to one aspect of the invention, the traffic safety caution apparatus having the function for distinguishing the running direction of vehicles comprises a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter comprises a vehicle detect enabling means, a power supply, a stereo frequency-modulation (FM) receiving means, a speech recording/reproducing means, a stereo encoding means, a FM amplification transmitting means, an ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating means, and an ultrasonic transmitting head; wherein said vehicle detect enabling means directly connecting to said power supply, said vehicle detect enabling means used for controlling the on/off of the power supply and of respective portions of the transmitter based on the detected noise signal from a vehicle, an output channel of said stereo frequency-modulation (FM) receiving means for receiving input speech signal connecting to said speech recording/reproducing means, an output of said speech recording/reproducing means connecting to said stereo encoding means, an output of said stereo encoding means connecting to said FM amplification transmitting means for transmitting FM signal, said ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating means connecting to the ultrasonic transmitting head transmitting ultrasonic wave; and 
   The receiver comprises a stereo frequency-modulation (FM) receiving means for receiving FM signal transmitted from the transmitter; a set of analog switches; a processor; a speech recording/reproducing means; a remote control receiving means; a remote control decoding means; a quad-latch; a resistor array; an ultrasonic receiving head; an ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying means; a frequency-voltage converting means; a reference voltage generator; and a power amplifying speaker; wherein an output channel of the stereo FM receiving means connecting to a first input of a first analog switch controlled by the processor, a second input of the first analog switch connecting to an output of the speech recording/reproducing means, the speech output of the first analog switch connecting to the speech recording/reproducing means, the reproducing output of the first analog switch connecting to the power amplifying speaker, a identity code output of the first analog switch connecting to the remote control receiving means; the output of the remote control receiving means connecting to the remote control decoding means; the output of the remote control decoding means connecting to the quad-latch of which an output in turn connects to the processor, and the other output of which connects to an input of a second analog switch; a resistor array connecting to the other input of the second analog switch; a gate level signal output of the second analog switch connecting to an input of a third analog switch, and another input of the third analog switch connecting to the output of the reference voltage generator; an output of the ultrasonic receiving means, which is composed of an ultrasonic receiving head for receiving ultrasonic signals transmitted from the transmitter, the ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying means for performing frequency selection and amplifying the output of the ultrasonic receiving head, and frequency-voltage converting means for receiving the output from the ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying means and converting the output into digital pulse signals, connecting to another input of the third analog switch; and another input of the speech recording/reproducing means connecting to the processor via the first analog switch. 
   In the traffic safety caution apparatus which may distinguish the running direction of vehicles, in the transmitter, the vehicle detection enabling means includes a detecting microphone MIC, a sound detecting integrated circuit IC 7 , a transistor Q 4  and a delay reset relay J; the stereo FM receiving means includes a receiving antenna AN 1 , a stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 1 ; the speech recording/reproducing means includes a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 4 ; the stereo encoding means includes a stereo encoding integrated circuit IC 6 ; the FM amplifying transmitting means includes three transistors Q 1  to Q 3  and a transmitting antenna AN 2 ; the ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating means includes a crystal oscillator Y 3 , “NOT” circuits IC 2 / b , IC 2 / c  and IC 2 / d , and a power transistor Q 5 ; the ultrasonic transmitting head includes an ultrasonic transmitting sensor Y 4 . In the receiver, the stereo FM receiving means includes a receiving antenna AN 3  and a stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 8 ; the analog switches include a analog switch which is composed of a four-tap analog switch IC 12  and a transistor Q 7 , and analog switches IC 14 , IC 13  and IC 21 ; the processor may be a microprocessor IC 22 ; the speech recording/reproducing means includes a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20 ; the remote control receiving means includes a remote control demodulation integrated circuit IC 18 ; the remote control decoding means includes a remote control decoding integrated circuit IC 17 ; the quad-latch includes dual D-type trigger integrated circuit IC 15 , IC 16 ; the ultrasonic receiving head includes an ultrasonic receiving sensor Y 8 ; the ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying means includes a plurality of operational amplifiers IC 26 , IC 25  and IC 24 ; the frequency-voltage converting means includes a frequency-voltage converter IC 23 ; the reference voltage generator includes a resistor R 47  and a stable voltage diode D 39 ; and the power amplifying speaker includes a power amplifying integrated circuit IC 11  and a speaker SP. 
   Further, in the transmitter, a speech recording/reproducing means is connected between the other output channel of the stereo FM receiving means and stereo encoding means, a recording/reproducing switch circuit is connected between the control signal input of the stereo FM receiving means and the speech recording/reproducing means. In the receiver, the other output channel of the stereo FM receiving means is connected to a MP3 player. One of the inputs of the MP3 player is connected to the processor, and the other input thereof is connected to the quad-latch. The output of the MP3 player is connected to the first analog switch. 
   Further, in the transmitter, the speech recording/reproducing means may include a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 5 ; the recording/reproducing switch circuit includes a “NOT” circuit IC 2 / a  and an analog switch IC 3 . In the receiver, the MP3 player includes a MP3 player IC 10 . 
   Furthermore, the receiver may further comprise a weather detecting means including a sensor for detecting weather and a analog switch connected to the output of the sensor and controlled by the processor, wherein two control signal outputs of the analog switch are connected to the speech recording/reproducing means, the data output of the analog switch is connected to the processor; the power amplifying speaker in the receiver is connected to a volume incrementing means of which a control signal input is connected to the analog switch connecting between the speech recording/reproducing means and the processor. 
   The sensor in the receiver is a temperature sensor T; the analog switch includes a four-tap analog switch IC 19  and a transistor Q 6 ; and the volume incrementing means is a count dividing frequency integrated circuit IC 9 . 
   The traffic safety caution apparatus which may distinguish the running direction of vehicles according to the present invention may not only distinguish the running direction of vehicle through ultrasonic wave by using the Doppler effect, but also provide the associated vehicle with traffic safety caution information, and supply the speed-limited vehicles with the speed-limited reference as compared with the prior art. 
   Also, the traffic safety caution apparatus according to the present invention has an expandable function as an information platform. Various safety cautioning information may be added to the traffic safety caution apparatus of the invention, and travelling and commercial information may also be supplied to the vehicles passed through the apparatus according to the present invention. The traffic safety caution apparatus of the invention can be made with efficient-cost. Further, the traffic safety caution apparatus according to the present invention can be used as speech prompting apparatus in addition to traffic safety caution flag. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transmitter of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the configuration of the receiver of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  shows the circuit diagram of transmitter of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
       FIG. 4  shows the circuit diagram of the receiver of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE EMBODIMENTS 
   Reference will be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The traffic safety caution apparatus according to the present invention comprises a transmitter and a receiver. 
     FIG. 1  shows the block diagram of the transmitter of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the traffic safety caution apparatus comprises a vehicle detection enabling unit  1 , a power supply  2 , a stereo frequency-modulation (FM) receiving unit  3 , speech recording/reproducing units  4 ,  9 , a recording/reproducing switch unit  10 , a stereo encoding unit  5 , a FM amplifying transmitting unit  6 , an ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating unit  7 , and an ultrasonic transmitting head  8 . The vehicle detection enabling unit  1  is directly connected to the power supply  2  so that to control the output of the power supply and on/off state of respective portions of the transmitter based on the noise signal detected by vehicle detection enabling unit  1  from the vehicle. An output channel (e.g., left channel) of the stereo frequency-modulation (FM) receiving unit  3  which receives speech input signal is connected to the speech recording/reproducing unit  4  of which an output in turn connects with an input of the stereo encoding unit  5 . Another output channel (e.g., right channel) of stereo FM receiving unit  3  is connected to the speech recording/reproducing unit  9  of which in turn connects with another input of the stereo encoding unit  5 . The control signal output of the stereo FM receiving unit  3  is connected to the speech recording/reproducing unit  4  and speech recording/reproducing unit  9  through the recording/reproducing switch unit  10 . The output of the stereo encoding unit  5  is connected to the input of the FM amplifying transmitting unit  6  which transmits FM signal. The ultrasonic signal output of the ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating unit  7  is connected to the ultrasonic transmitting head  8 , and the ultrasonic transmitting head  8  transmits ultrasonic wave. 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , the receiver comprises a stereo frequency modulation (FM) receiving unit  11 , analog switches  12 ,  16 ,  22 ,  24 , and  28 , a processor  18 , a MP3 player  27 , a speech recording/reproducing unit  25 , a remote control receiving unit  13 , a remote control decoding unit  14 , a quad-latch  15 , a resistor array  17 , an ultrasonic receiving head  19 , an ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying unit  20 , a frequency-voltage converter  21 , a reference voltage generator  23 , a sensor  29 , a volume incrementing unit  30 , and a power amplifying speaker  26 . In the receiver, an output channel (e.g. left channel) of the stereo FM receiving unit  11  is connected to an input of analog switch  12  controlled by the processor  18 . The other input of analog switch  12  is connected to the reproducing output of the speech recording/reproducing unit  25 . The speech output of analog switch  12  is connected to the speech recording/reproducing unit  25  while the reproducing output and identity code output of the analog switch  12  are connected to the power amplifying speaker  26  and the remote control receiving unit  13  respectively. The output of the remote control receiving unit  13  is connected to remote control decoding unit  14  of which the output in turn connects with quad-latch  15 . One of the outputs of quad-latch  15  is connected to the processor  18 , and the other output is connected to the analog switch  16 . As an example, a computer or a microprocessor may be used as the processor  18 . An input of the analog switch  16  is connected to the resistor array  17 , and the gate level signal output is connected to an input of the analog switch  22 . Another input of the analog switch  22  is connected of the output of the reference voltage generator  23 , and the still another input of analog switch  22  is connected to the output of ultrasonic receiving unit. The ultrasonic receiving unit may be composed of an ultrasonic receiving head  19  which receives ultrasonic wave signal transmitted from transmitter, an ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying unit  20  which performs frequency selection and amplifies the selected signals, and a frequency-voltage converter  21  which receives the output of the ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying unit  20  and converts the output into digital pulse signals. The still another input of the speech recording/reproducing unit is connected to the processor  18  via the analog switch  24 . Another output of the stereo FM receiving unit  11  in the receiver is connected to the MP3 player  27 . The two control signal inputs of the MP3 player are connected to the processor  18  and quad-latch  15  respectively, and the speech output of the MP3 player is connected to the analog switch  12 . 
   Further, the receiver comprises a weather detecting unit. The weather detecting unit includes a sensor  29  for detecting weather and a analog switch  28  connected to the output of the sensor  29  and controlled by the processor  18 . The two control signal outputs of analog switch  28  are connected to the speech recording/reproducing unit  25 , the data output of the analog switch  28  is connected to the processor  18 . 
   The power amplifying speaker in the receiver is connected to a volume incrementing unit of which control signal input is connected to the analog switch  24 . 
     FIG. 3  shows the circuit diagram of transmitter of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. The vehicle detection enabling unit  1  may include a detecting microphone MIC, a sound detecting integrated circuit IC 7 , a transistor Q 4  and a delay reset relay J. The relay J closes when the detecting microphone MIC detects the noise from the vehicle. A battery unit may be used as the power supply of the transmitter. The power supply is automatically switched off for a delay, e.g. 12 seconds, if there is no vehicle. The stereo FM receiving unit  3  may include a receiving antenna AN 1 , a stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 1 . The speech recording/reproducing unit  4  may include a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 4 . The speech recording/reproducing unit  9  may include a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 5 . The recording/reproducing switch unit  10  may include a “NOT” circuit IN 2 / a  and a analog switch IC 3 . The stereo encoding unit  5  may include a stereo encoding integrated circuit IC 6 . The FM amplifying transmitting unit  6  may include transistors Q 1 , Q 2 , and Q 3  and transmitting antenna AN 2 . The ultrasonic frequency stabilization oscillating unit  7  may include a crystal oscillator Y 3 , “NOT” circuits IC 2 / b , IC 2 / c  and IC 2 / d  , and a power transistor Q 5 . An ultrasonic transmitting sensor Y 4  may be used as the ultrasonic transmitting head  8 . 
     FIG. 4  shows the circuit diagram of receiver of the traffic safety caution apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the stereo FM receiving unit  11  may include a receiving antenna AN 3  and a stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 8 . Analog switch  12  may include a four-tap analog switch IC 2  and a transistor Q 7 , and integrated circuits IC 14 , IC 13  and IC 21  may be used as the analog switches  16 ,  22 , and  24  respectively. The processor  18  may be, for example, a microprocessor IC 22 . The speech recording/reproducing unit may include a speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20 . A remote control demodulation integrated circuit IC 18  may be used as the remote control receiving unit  13 . A remote control decoding integrated circuit IC 17  may be used as the remote control decoding unit  14 . The quad-latch  15  is composed of dual D-type trigging integrated circuits IC 15  and IC 16 . An ultrasonic receiving sensor Y 8  may be used as the ultrasonic receiving head  19 . The ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying unit  20  may be composed of operational amplifiers IC 26 , IC 25  and IC 24 . The frequency-voltage converter IC 23  may be used as the frequency-voltage convert unit  21 . The reference voltage generator  23  may include a resistor R 47  and a voltage stabilizing diode D 39 . The processor  18  distinguishes the running direction of a vehicle based on the frequency change of the received ultrasonic wave. The power amplifying speaker may include a power amplify integrated circuit IC 11  and a speaker SP. A MP3 player IC 10  may be used as the MP3 player in the receiver. A temperature sensor T may be used as the sensor  29  used for detecting weather. The analog switch  28  may include a four-tap analog switch IC 19  and a transistor Q 6 . A count dividing frequency integrated circuit IC 9  may be used as the volume incrementing unit  30 . 
   Next, the operation of the transmitter of the traffic safety caution apparatus of the invention will be described. The transmitter is provided at side of the road where It is needed to prompt information. The receiver of the traffic safety caution apparatus is provided at a vehicle. The relay J in the transmitter closes when the detecting microphone MIC detects noise from the vehicle. Battery unit supplies the transmitter with power, and then the transmitter operates. The stereo encoding integrated circuit IC 6  modulates the audio signal supplied from the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuits IC 4 , IC 5  into FM signals with frequency of 88 MHz. The resultant signal is amplified by transistors Q 1 , Q 2  and Q 3 , and then transmitted by a directional antenna to the direction from which the vehicle comes. At this time, the crystal oscillator Y 3  generates ultrasonic wave with frequency of 40 KHz, and then transmitted by an ultrasonic sensor such as sensor UCM-T40K1 to the direction to which the vehicle runs. The stereo frequency modulation wave on which two kinds of speech information are modulated is transmitted if it is necessary to input new speech information or update the existing speech information. The stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 1  receives and demodulates the modulated speech information such as caution information and commercial information, and then supplies demodulated speech information to the double-channel speech recording/reproducing unit which may include the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 4  and IC 5 , thereby recording the information therein. In the present embodiment, integrated circuit IC 4  records identity code and speech such as traffic safety caution information, IC 5  records the speech such as travelling information and commercial information. The recorded speech is cyclically played back under the control of the recording/reproducing switch unit  10 . 
   Next, the operation of the receiver of the traffic safety caution apparatus of the invention will be described. The receiver is in operation all the time. The stereo FM receiving integrated circuit IC 8  receives the FM signal including left channel signal and right channel signal transmitted from the transmitter via receiving antenna AN 3 . The left channel signal includes identity code and speech relating to traffic safety caution. The right channel signal includes speech relating to travelling and commercial information. Under the control of microprocessor IC 22 , the analog switch IC 12  input the identity code included in the left channel to remote control receiving demodulation integrated circuit IC 18  to demodulate, and then send the demodulated identity code to remote control decoding integrated circuit IC 17 . The remote control decoding integrated circuit IC 17  decodes the demodulated identity code. After that, the decoded identity code is sent to four-digit quad-latch  15  which is composed of dual D-type trigger integrated circuits IC 15 , IC 16  if the identity code is valid. Quad-latch  15  has three output taps: one of the output taps is sent to the microprocessor IC 22  for providing a handshake signal. The microprocessor IC 22  sends three branches of signals after receiving the handshake signal. The first branch of signal from the microprocessor IC 22  resets the MP3 player IC 10 , switches the analog switch IC for inputting the left channel signal (traffic safety caution speech) into the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20 , and turns on the analog switch IC 21  so that to make the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20  reset and record the signal from the left channel. The second branch of signal from the microprocessor IC 22  is sent to the MP3 player IC 10 , and controls the MP3 player IC 10  to record the signal from the right channel. The third branch of signal from the microprocessor IC 22  is input to the analog switch IC 14 , thereby making the analog switch IC 14  select respective speed-limited voltage signal from the resistor array  17  (the resistor array  17  provides, e.g., seven speed-limited reference voltages from 30 km to 100 km and a non-speed-limited reference voltage), and send the selected speed-limited voltage signal to the analog switch IC 13 . The ultrasonic receiving sensor Y 8  receives an ultrasonic signal transmitted from the transmitter located at the side of the road when the vehicle passes the transmitter. The received ultrasonic signal is input to the ultrasonic frequency selective amplifying unit  20  which in turn sends to frequency-voltage converter  21 . The received ultrasonic signal is converted to a corresponding voltage signal (i.e., a voltage corresponding to a speed) in the frequency-voltage converter  21 , and then sends the converted voltage signal to the analog switch IC 13 . The Under the control of the microprocessor IC 22 , the analog switch IC 13  sends the input speed voltage and a reference voltage (which is generated with simulating 40 KHg ultrasonic wave) generated by the reference voltage generator  23  to the microprocessor IC 22  to perform comparison therein. The microprocessor can distinguish the running direction of a vehicle based on the frequency change of the received ultrasonic wave. The comparison is carried out based on Doppler effect, i.e., as the change of the vehicle speed, the ultrasonic wave received by the receiver in the vehicle from a fixed location is changed. It indicates that a vehicle is running toward the ultrasonic transmitter when the speed voltage is higher than the reference voltage, and the vehicle is away from the transmitter when the speed voltage is lower than the reference voltage. In the embodiment, it may define that a speed-limited operation is started when a vehicle runs away from a transmitter. When a vehicle runs into a speed-limited section, the microprocessor IC 22  controls the analog switch IC 13  to feed the speed-limited voltage selected by the analog switch IC 14  and the speed voltage output from IC 23  of the frequency-voltage converter  21  into the microprocessor IC 22  to perform comparison. The microprocessor IC 22  controls the analog switch IC 21  to make the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20  reproduce speech relating to speed-limited caution while the microprocessor IC 22  controls the analog switch IC 12  to make the speech relating to speed-limited caution be played back through the power amplifying circuit IC 11 . Further, the microprocessor IC 22  starts the volume incrementing circuit IC 9  through the analog switch IC 21  to make the played volume increment every a predetermined interval until the vehicle speed reaches the limited speed. The speech relating to safety caution is stopped when the vehicle speed is lower the limited speed. 
   An air temperature sensor T converts the change of the temperature into a corresponding voltage value, and then sends the voltage value to the microprocessor IC 22  via the analog switch IC 19 . The microprocessor IC 22  reads the voltage value and then compares the voltage value with the reference voltage value read from the reference voltage generator  23  via the analog switch IC 13 . In the case where the air temperature is lower than a threshold predetermined in advance, the weather prompting information is reproduced from the speech recording/reproducing integrated circuit IC 20  through the analog switches IC 21 , IC 12  every a predetermined interval if no speed-limited caution information is played. The microprocessor IC 22  may control the MP3 player IC 10  to play travelling or commercial information through the analog switch IC 22  if no speed-limited caution information and weather prompting information is played. 
   Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.