Title of the invention

A Wheel Position Indicator

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of auto parts, in particular, to a front wheel position indicator.

Background art

The steering system converts the rotation of the steering wheel into a rotational movement of the road wheels in such a way that the steering wheel rim turns a long way to move the road wheels a short way. The system allows a driver to use only light forces to steer a heavy vehicle. In most cars, small trucks and SUVs on the road today, there is a rack and pinion steering system. This converts the rotational motion of the steering wheel into the linear motion that turns the wheels and guides the path. The system involves the steering pinion which locks teeth on the bar. In most steering wheel vehicles it's about 1.5 turns left and 1.5 turns right to reach end of the steering wheel from the middle rest position, more specifically, between left end and right end - about 360x1.5x2~1080 degrees. Steering ratio refers to the ratio between the turn of the steering wheel (in degrees) and the turn of the wheels (in degrees). A higher steering ratio means that the steering wheel is turned more to get the wheels turning, but it will be easier to turn the steering wheel. A lower steering ratio means that the steering wheel is turned less to get the wheels turning, but it will be harder to turn the steering wheel. Larger and heavier vehicles will often have a higher steering ratio, which will make the steering wheel easier to turn. If a truck had a low steering ratio, it would be very hard to turn the steering wheel. In normal and lighter cars, the wheels are easier to turn, so the steering ratio doesn't have to be as high. In race cars the ratio is typically very low, because the vehicle must respond to steering input much faster than in normal cars. The steering wheel is therefore harder to turn.

Although the steering wheel position has a direct relationship with the road wheel position, drivers can't get correct idea about the road wheel position by seeing at the steering wheel position. As drivers can't see the actual position of the car in relation to the roadway because the driver's view of the road is blocked by the dashboard and hood of the car. However, it is important to get right idea about the wheel position. Experience in driving is required to quickly judge the position of the wheels. However, a fresh driver in order to ascertain the position of the wheel of a vehicle should move the vehicle for some extent to identify the road wheels position. In all driving situations, the best way to avoid potential dangers is to position the vehicle having the best chance of seeing and being seen.

General practice of checking straight direction of wheels by looking at the steering wheel is, Step 1; Rotate steering left or right at the most, Step 2; Step Down steering rotation 1.5 rounds~450 degrees, Step 3 : Again fine tune to match steering wheel center position, and then the steering wheel and wheel are in straight. This technique is used while parking the car is possible for some extent. However, in critical situations like congested space parking, this technique is not sufficient for wheel position correction. Modern technologies are available to the road wheel position detection such as the camera-based wheel detectors, where these type of wheel detectors finds wheels and assumes vehicle location from background segmentation and wheel detection technique. The images are filtered and applied to a pre computed set of principle components. The principle component responses are compared and wheel candidates are chosen and tracked. In prior art, the WO2016121365A1 provides wheel position with the transmitter device, sensors and control unit. Also the US20030197603A1 provides a remote tire monitoring system of a vehicle a dual-axis accelerometer and a control circuit. The tire monitor transmits tire data and the position information to a control unit of a remote tire monitor system. In other embodiment the steering angle sensor determines where the driver wants to steer, matching the steering wheel with the vehicle's wheels. Located within the steering column, the steering angle sensor always has more than one sensor packaged together in a single unit for redundancy, accuracy, and diagnostics. The problems associated with the electronic sensor system is the risen of incompatibility with cars electronic control system. Moreover, car drives differently after a front end alignment.

Disclosure of Invention Driving is primarily a thinking task, and have a bundle of things to think carefully about such as road conditions, vehicle's speed and position, observing traffic laws, signs, signals, road markings, following directions, background vehicles, checking mirrors, the list goes on. Staying focused on driving is a critical for safe driving. Moreover, being alert allows driver to react quickly to potential problems like when the driver in the car ahead slams on the brakes at the last minute. Part of staying in control is being aware of other drivers and roadway users around the vehicle such as what they may suddenly do so you're less likely to be caught off guard. More specifically, driver has less time to get primary information from meter readings such as wheel detection sensors within few seconds. Since the greatest chance of a collision is in front, user friendly wheel position detection is expected.

Comparing prior art; in one embodiment, the wheel position indicator has two pointers, each displaying the angle of the wheels or axles from 15-0-15 degrees left or right. The lens appears to be a plastic material. There are clear windows around its perimeter, likely to allow illumination from a light source mounted internally in the dashboard. This pointer shows exact wheel position with small minimum measurement. However, driver has less than a second to check the indicator, so he cannot get quick idea about the pointer position. In another embodiment, Real time wheel position indicator is introduced which is worked with the gravity force. The gadget should be pasted on the steering wheel and pointer shows exact position of the wheel. This technique also has same problem of getting quick idea about the wheel position by glance. Similarly, W02011096612A1 introduces a wheel position indicator where, only a display panel rotates at an upper end of a weight, the direction of a front wheel can be known by checking pointer difference of the weight. This product is also simple and no electricity, electronic system needed. However, pointer reading is still a disturbance for the safe driving. Thereby, a simple method of showing the wheel position indicator is pre requisites.

Present invention disclose the novel design of a wheel position indicator where the said indicator has three major components such as: a bottom compartment (Fig 1-1); where the bottom compartment holds the other items of the wheel position indicator where the said compartment having facility to attach on the steering wheel, center shaft of the steering wheel or on the similar position. The second component is the top compartment (Fig 1-4) ; where the top compartment holds the other items of the wheel position indicator wherein said compartment is transparent to facilitate meter readings. The final compartment is the spiral compartment (Fig 1-2) having left side clock-wise rotation and right side anti clock wise rotation and center connection; where the left and right side spirals have each plurality of spiral rounds representing number of steering wheel turns; where an inside ball (Fig 1-3) having a weight is travels through the spiral path. The spiral compartment is engraved or molded in the bottom compartment or symmetrically fix on the bottom compartment. The right end of the spiral path represents the right end position of the wheel and left end of the spiral path represents the left end of the spiral path. The number of revolutions of the each spiral represents the maximum number of turns of the steering wheel; where the rest position of the steering wheel represents the center position location of the said ball. Fig. 5 shows the exploded view of the present wheel position indicator.

Novelty and non-obviousness of the present invention is the clear quick identification of wheel direction and wheel position at a glance of the indicator since indicator has left side-clock wise rotation and right side clock wise separate spiral rotation. The weight ball is stainless steel or iron or other type of weight ball which shows exact reference place of the spiral path. The spiral path has a center position as a straight wheel position, and a spiral color in a clockwise direction is different from a spiral color in a counterclockwise direction for easy identification of the wheel rotational direction. For enhanced accuracy, the spiral path is marked to get the reference steering angle degrees. When the vehicle travel through the un even road conditions, the inside ball can be bounce to the next spiral round by showing wrong wheel position. Therefore, the spiral path is filled with a viscous liquid or water.

Further, present technical solution is that when the steering wheel is rotated right side from the base position to the end position, the ball will roll from the middle of the spiral path to the right end of the spiral path; and when the steering wheel is reversed to the base position, the ball will come to the middle rest position; when the steering wheel at the extreme end of the left side, the ball will roll to the end of the left side of the spiral path (Figure 6); in this way, the measurement of the ball's moving position extends from a short distance in the vertical direction and pass to the next bend, to a long distance on the spiral path. So that the driver can get quick idea about the wheel position separately as clock wise turning and anti-clock wise turning. More specifically, driver can quickly notice the wheel turns with half axis of the scale of accuracy. Figure 6 shows the turned wheel position on the Wheel Position Indicator assuming 2.5turns maximum turn steering wheel vehicle . If need, angle that the indicator ball has turned can be marked at smaller intervals; and the user's visual attention is no longer limited to the vertical downward radius of the panel, and instead bet on the spiral ruler on the entire spiral channel Up; when the ball is on a certain half axis of the scale, it is known that the steering wheel is in a certain clockwise direction and has been turned by X degrees; when the ball is on the other half axis of the scale, it is known that the steering wheel is in another clockwise direction and has been turned Y degrees; this greatly improves the ease of reading the rough position with direction of turn and angle data for users, and greatly improves the practicality of the indicator; and, in this case, left and right panels can be colored with opposite colors to improve the visual aid of the indicator then the user's attention grabs the entire panel. Relatively speaking, the visual effect brought by this technical feature greatly improves the user's visibility. This also supports to mental reaction of the drivers to get number of steering wheel turns to come back to original position.

Advantageous effects: Present invention makes following benefits to the drivers;

Visual aid system of wheel position for drivers safe driving and quick response; specially, indicator shows wheels direction of rotate from the base point as clock wise and anti-clockwise. Further, driver can get quick idea about the number of rotations turned as a real time picture. The invention not only supports to identify the wheel rotation in direction and turns but also support to mental reaction to get back to required position.

Car parking aid; Present invention developed to aid safe car parking and driving in a narrow space as it allows the drivers to recognize the direction angles and backward motion of front wheels. Most car drivers have difficulty while parking or moving the car and may drive backwards several times due to their inability to accurately determine the direction of wheels. This may course unnecessary tire wear and energy costs. Beginner drive gain confidence as they are learning to park. FIG. 4 shows each step of the parallel parking.

No cable or electricity required. It works by gravity force acting on the weight. Mount directly to the center of the steering wheel with a self-adhesive sticker. It can be manufactured as a luxury interior decoration style.

It is very useful aid for starting the car.

It displays where the wheels are directed prior to parking.

Know where the wheels are positioned prior to driving.

Real time indicator of wheel direction.

Semi-permanent use.

High quality and cost effectiveness.

Develop parking skills for beginners, added convenience for experts, and convenience for any vehicle.

Driving on snow, sand or mud; when driving on snow, in mud, on sand or other surface with low traction, it may be useful, if not essential, to know the position of a vehicle's wheels.

Avoiding accidents; some drivers find difficulty in judging angles and distances. What frequently happens is that the driver having difficulty vacates the driving seat, often in mid-maneuver, and a passenger, car park attendant or bystander takes over and completes the parking maneuvers. If the steering wheel is turned from the centered or "rest" position, there is a possibility of the car lurching forwards or backwards at an angle, and such an occurrence may result in an accident.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is an illustration of front view, side view and top view of the Present Wheel Position Indicator.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of physical application of the Present Wheel Position Indicator on the car steering wheel. FIG. 3 is an illustration of physical view of the present invention on the steering wheel.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of Parallel parking.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of Exploded view of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of Indicator position of the different turns of the steering wheel (2.5 turns maximum per side).

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

Present invention is simple gadget which shows direction turned the front wheels and no of turns or angle of turn of the front wheels. The working principle is the gravity force acting on the small ball weight where the ball is travelled through the clock wise or anti clock wise rotated spiral path. This spiral path is filled with a viscous liquid or water to avoid the spinning of the ball. The size of the average wheel position indictor is 50mm diameter and 7mm thickness. Main components of the gadget are (i) the bottom compartment, (ii) the top compartment and (iii) the spiral compartment. Fig.l shows the Front view, side view and top view of the present invention. The bottom compartment holds the other items of the wheel position indicator, additionally, the said compartment having facility to attach on the steering wheel, center shaft or similar position. The top compartment holds the other items of the wheel position indicator where the said compartment is transparent to facilitate meter readings. The spiral compartment having clockwise rotation and anti-clock wise rotation and left and right side spiral compartments are connected at the middle, center connection. The left and right side spirals have plurality of spiral rounds representing number of steering wheel turns each side. The inside ball having a weight is travels through the spiral path. The spiral compartment is engraved or molded in the bottom compartment or symmetrically fix on the bottom compartment. The right end of the spiral path represents the right end position of the wheel and left end of the spiral path represents the left end of the spiral path. FIG. 5 shows exploded view of the present invention. The number of revolutions of the each spiral represents the maximum number of turns of the steering wheel; where the rest position of the steering wheel represents the center position location of the said ball. FIG. 1 shows the outer appearance of the present invention. Accuracy of the said wheel position indicator is 0.5 turns of the steering wheel, however, the accuracy can be increased up to a degrees of angle by measuring and marking the spiral path with respect to the turn angle of the wheel.

Manufacturing method of the present wheel position indicator is as follows; the top compartment is plastic, acrylic, glass or similar transparent material and the bottom compartment is plastic, wood, metal or similar material which can be engrave or molded in to a spiral path inside. Materials can be selected in accordance with the practical applicability and the cost. The ball weight inside is made out of lead or stainless steel or similar material having high density to lower the spinning through the spiral path. Spiral path is engraved or molded in the bottom compartment or separately fix in to the bottom compartment. The ball weight is placed in the spiral path and the top compartment is fixed to the bottom compartment. Viscous liquid or water is filled inside to avoid the spinning of the ball weight in the spiral path. This avoids the possibility of placing the ball weight in a wrong position of the spiral path. Size of the present invention varies depending on the application. Following example shows the typical wheel position indicator size designed for the VITZ car. FIG. 2 shows outer appearance of the wheel position indicator and FIG. 3 shows each components of it.

Example 1:

Diameter of the wheel position indicator: 50mm

Thickness of the wheel position indicator: 7mm

Thickness of the ball: 4mm

Example 2:

Parallel parking is a way of parking a car in a small space that drivers may not be able to drive straight into. Parallel parking is considered to be one of the hardest skills for new drivers to learn and is a required part of most driving tests. FIG. 4 shows a situation where a driver has small space for parking his car between other two vehicles. He needs to move his car 1, 2, 3 directions and this movement has very limited space 1200mm and at the side has only 300mm. The driver cannot check wheel position by moving vehicle any more. This is common situation when park the vehicle at the city limits. The present indicator is great gadget to eliminate difficulties of this parallel parking by knowing the direction of front wheel.

Industrial Applicability

The wheel position indicator will indicate the position of the steerable wheel to notify the driver of the vehicle that the steerable wheel may not be in the position contemplated by the driver. The driver will then be able to respond adequately when the steerable wheel reacts according its proper direction of travel. The wheel position indicator is easy to implement, capable of a long operable life, and particularly adapted for the proposed use.

Possible industrial applications are any type of steerable wheel such as passenger car, truck, and marine boat rudder. The rudder position indicator is the device used to indicate the present position of the rudder blade, usually fitted in the wheelhouse, bridge wings and engine control room. Present invention applicable to Rudder Position Indicator which will show present wheel direction with each revolution on the steering wheel providing you with an easy-to-see reference point. The Indicator can mount directly to the hub of the boat's steering wheel with a self-adhesive pad.

This invention is industrial solution for difficult driving situations; the wheel position indicator device connected/pasted or fixed on the steering wheels of the vehicle to mechanically indicate the front wheel position at all times. This being both a guide to the parking of the vehicle as well as a guide to assist the vehicle driver in the driving of the vehicle as the position of the wheels will be immediately apparent to the vehicle driver to permit adjustment of the wheels before reversing or driving forwardly. Such as when the vehicle is parked or in close proximity to other vehicles and it is important to note the position of the steering wheels before making any movement of the vehicle. This invention is best solution for such applications.

The indicator devices being relatively simple in construction and therefore being readily manufactured at a relatively low cost and by simple manufacturing methods; they being possessed of few parts and therefore unlikely to get out of order; they being rugged and durable in construction and therefore may be guaranteed by the manufacturer to withstand many years of usage; they being easy to use and reliable and efficient in operation; they being installed as part of the original equipment of the vehicle, or being readily installed at a later date as an accessory item to the vehicle: and they being otherwise well adapted to perform the services required of them.