This invention relates to a device for indicating the state of activity of pre-selected equipment installed in a motor vehicle, more particularly, though not exclusively, a motor vehicle, such as a motorcycle including a scooter type vehicle having a handle bar for steering the vehicle. Such indication is communicated by the said device to the driver of the vehicle by the generation of vibrational pulses which are felt by the driver at the region of the handle bar of the vehicle when his hands are placed on the handle bar grip on one or both sides of the handle bar.
Instead of the handle bar, other parts of the motor vehicle, depending on convenience, and the requirements of a particular application, can be used, such as, for instance, the steering wheel of a motor car, so much so that the use of this invention
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is by no means restricted to a particular motor vehicle or a particular body area of a motor vehicle. Thus, for instance, the expression "handle bar" and its parts would mean and include, in this specification and Claims, a "steering wheel" and its parts as circumstances may require.
Illustrative, but not exhaustive, of the state of activity of such equipment is the continuing ON state of the flasher light, the continuing ON state of the headlights in daytime, the state of low charge of the battery, among others.
This invention proposes the aforementioned device with the intention of lessening the burden on the driver of a motor vehicle to consciously monitor the state of activity of vital motor vehicle equipment, especially, in the midst of traffic and the noise and din of busy commercial environment when his

attention is riveted to the road and the moving objects before him.
Of course, there are devices known to the art which furnish the driver with indication of the state of activity of the vehicle equipment, for example, whether the flasher light is still ON, whether the battery charge has decreased and so on. However, these indications are of the audio-visual kind, that is to say, of the kind which can be perceived by the driver by sight or by hearing, necessarily requiring the driver to focus his attention on seeing or hearing, both of which are difficult to achieve in the midst of traffic and noise, which obliterate the possibility of proper visual and audio recognition.
On the other hand, the device proposed herein dispenses with the requirement on the part of the driver to use his vision or hearing for monitoring

equipment activity. By the device proposed herein indication of such activity is furnished to the driver through his sense of touch at the handle bar of the vehicle
The device for indicating the state of activity of preselected equipment installed in a motor vehicle, according to this invention, comprises a vibration/tapping signal generator, the output end of which is for electrical connection to a vibration generator provided in the handle bar, just below the handle bar grip, of the vehicle, the input end of said signal generator being electrically connected to pre¬selected equipment of the vehicle for sensing the state of activity of each of such equipment at any point of time when the vehicle is in use, the said signal generator operating to indicate the state of such activity to the user, by tactile signals at the vibration generator below said handle bar grip,
The device proposed herein will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which
illustrate by way of example, and not by way of
linnitation, possible embodiments of this invention.referred to and described herelnbelow.
When the vehicle is on a busy road, there are several known feedback systems in order to help the user to drive safely, for example, the rear-view mirrors and audiovisual instruments mainly located on the dashboard of the vehicle. However, the user may not be able to pay adequate attention to audio¬visual indications, such as, small beeps, coloured lights, variable intensity and/or flashing lights on the dashboard.
This invention is useful for drawing the user's attention, by touch, to activated pre-selected equipment on board the motor vehicle which need to be de-activated, such as, for example, flasher light which is on and which is required to be shut off, headlamps on during daytime which require to be switched off, battery charge is low requiring the battery to be re-charged, fuel level in the tank is low requiring re-fuelling and so on.

iThe principal object of this invention is to provide the user with a reliable and safe indication system One or more such proposed methods includes a vibration source located at one or two ends of the handlebar. Several types of sources may be used for generating vibration at the handlebar. The range of the vibration frequency is carefully selected such that the user is clearly able to distinguish between the vehicle vibration and the true indicative vibration. Also, the frequency of vibration should be such that it should not be a multiple of natural frequency of the structure of the handlebar, so that resonance may be avoided. Location of the vibration generator can be inside the handlebar to the middle of palm grip area, or it can be at the end. Location of the vibration should also be such that its vibration generator doesn't resonate with the handlebar during vibration.
In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in Fig. 1 a vibration generator 11 is mounted inside the hollow portions 13 and 15 of the handlebar such that the body of the vibration generator is directly in contact with the handlebar's inner surface.

Components of a vibration generator VG are shown in the dashed-line region. Figure 1 shows, as an example, a motor with shaft 14 connected to eccentric load 12 used as vibrating generator element. When the electrical signal to start vibration is given through the signal wires 16, the user feels the vibration from inside the handlebar grip area. The said signal is generated based on pre-selected events occurring to which the user's attention is to be drawn, not audio-visually, but by touch, as for example, when the flasher signal lamp of the vehicle continues to be on, when the user's attention is to be drawn to switch it off. Such a situation is of considerable importance on a busy road when the ON state of a flasher signal lamp, when the said lamp should in fact be off, can mislead other road users and lead to traffic accidents.
In another embodiment of this invention (Fig.2). components of the vibration generator VG are shown in the dashed line region. The motor 21 mounted inside the handlebar 27 has a pulley slot 22 provided on its shaft and the pulley 23 goes through one of the two holes 25 in the handlebar and returns through the other. The pulley 23 is fixed

"With a small projection 24 which keeps tapping the user's palm when the motor is run in response to the activate signal given to the vibration generating element through the signal wires 28. The section between the two slots in the handlebar may have a freely rotating pulley to avoid friction for the pulley while rotating. The width of each slot is provided in such a way that the pulley with the projection will be able to easily pass through. The rotational speed of the motor is selected such that the user is able to clearly identify the pulsations at his palm.
In yet another embodiment of this invention (Fig. 3), the indication is achieved by creating a small pulsating touch to the palm of the user at the handle bar grip. Components of the vibration generator VG are shown in the dashed line region. Motor 31 with eccentric shaft 32 arrangement is mounted inside the hollow portion of the handlebar 36 which has a small hole 35 from which a projection of a small rod 34 intermittently pops out so that the user gets the feeling of touch when the motor is operated through the signal wires 38. The

spring 33 of this arrangement is used to keep the default position of the metal rod 34 inside the handlebar, such as in (b) of figure 3. The rotational speed of the motor is selected to be low enough so that there are no fatigue effects on the spring, and so that the user is able to clearly identify the pulsations.
The arrangement of this invention is exemplified in Fig. 4, in which vibration/tapping signal generator SG is connected to several sections of the vehicle as illustrated earlier in this specification by s1, s2, s3 and so on.. The signals of occurrences of events in the respective sections are given to the vibration generator VG as electrical signals so that the user will be alerted about the message and the user's attention will be turned to the necessary section which needs attention.
It will be appreciated that various other embodiments of this invention are possible without departing from the scope and ambit of this invention.

We Claim:
1 .A device for indicating the state of activity of pre¬selected equipment installed in a motor vehicle, comprising a vibration/tapping signal generator, the output end of which is for electrical connection to a vibration generator provided in the handle bar, just below the handle bar grip, of the vehicle, the input end of said generator being electrically connected to pre-selected equipment of the vehicle for sensing the state of activity of each of such equipment at any point of time when the vehicle is in use, the said generator operating to indicate the state of such activity to the user, by tactile signals at the vibration source below said handle bar grip,
2. A device as claimed in Claim .1 wherein the
vibration generator is a motor with shaft connected to an eccentric load.
3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the
generator is a motor mounted inside the
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handlebar and a pulley with a small projection keeps tapping the user's palm when the motor is run in response to the activate signal.
4. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein a motor with eccentric shaft is mounted inside the handlebar having a small hole from which a projection of a small rod intermittently pops out so that the user gets the feeling of touch when the motor is operated
5. A device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the vibration/tapping signal generator is connected to a plurality of sections of the vehicle, the signals of occurrences of events in the respective sections being given to the vibration generator as electrical signals for alerting the user and drawing the user's attention to the section needing his attention.
6. A device for indicating the state of activity of pre¬selected equipment installed In a motor vehicle substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.