This invention relates to a vibration generator system for fault indication in a motor vehicle.
This invention, although exemplified herein by reference to a motor vehicle provided with a handle bar for steering purposes, is also applicable to motor vehicles provided with a steering wheel. Accordingly, the word "handle bar" is to be interpreted to mean mutatis mutandis the words "steering wheel" in the appropriate context..
The object of this invention is to indicate to the user of the vehicle (the driver) that a fault has occurred in the vehicle equipment, such indication being given by a vibration generator setting up vibrations which can be perceived by the user, by touch, at the handle bar of the vehicle where he usually places his hand while driving.
This is made possible by a vibration generator mounted at least at one end of the handlebar, the duration, intensity and pattern of the vibration being such as to indicate, to the touch of the user, specific faults in the vehicle requiring attention for being set right.
When the vehicle is in use on the road, failure, wrong operation or malfunctioning of a vehicle equipment can

be a source of a traffic hazard, if the defect is not set right by the user, going unnoticed, for example, when the headlights of the vehicle are on when they should be off, when the direction signal indicator is on, when it should be off, when the battery is below normal charge, when it should indicate "to be charged fully''
The vibration generator system for fault indication in a motor vehicle, according to this invention, comprises a vibration generator mounted inside at least one end of the handle bar of the vehicle, an electronic controller for generating vibrational signals to activate the vibration generator and produce vibrations at the handle bar; sensor means for sensing fault conditions of designated equipment of the motor vehicle and creating fault signals; the said electronic controller also for receiving the fault signals from the sensor means and processing these signals to obtain vibration signals to be given to vibration generator; the electronic controller being programmed to prioritize the signals in order of predetermined importance; time delay means for allowing a predetermined interval of time to pass, during the existence of each fault, before a corresponding fault

signal is communicated by the electronic controller to the vibration generator, the duration, intensity and pattern of the vibrational signals at the vibration generator being predetermined by the electronic controller for identifying the respective faults.
This invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example, and not by way of limitation, one of its possible embodiments, in which
Fig, 1 illustrates the layout of the said embodiment
Fig. 2 illustrates one subsystem of the vehicle, namely the headlamp system.
The electronic controller obtains signals from the sensors mounted on the vehicle to keep itself updated about the operating conditions of the equipment. When the electronic controller observes that the operation of a specific equipment is not appropriate, it generates a fault flag corresponding to the subsystem. After the fault flag

generation, the controller checks in its memory for the preference number and other parameters for the sub¬system such as time required to wait before generating a signal for the vibration generator. The fault flag is removed when normal operation of the subsystem is resumed. If the fault flag is still existing even after the predetermined time obtained from memory, the electronic controller uses the preference number of the subsystem to lookup another memory table to obtain the address of signal pattern to be given to the vibration generator.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the vibration generator 1 is mounted inside the hollow portion 3 of the handlebar 5. Vibration generator G components are shown in the dashed line region. Figure 1 shows, as an example, a motor 1 with shaft 4 connected to eccentric load 2. When the signal from the electronic controller starts vibration is given through the signal wires 6, the user feels the vibration from inside the handlebar's palm grip area.
In Figure 2 where only one subsystem of the vehicle is shown, by way of example, namely the headlamp

system, the vehicle battery B is connected to the headlamp H through the user operated switch. The state of this switch is captured and the state is fed to the controller P through the interface circuit C1. At the same time, the condition of operation of the vehicle, in this case the ambient lighting, is captured by using a light sensitive device LD, such as, a light dependent resistor or photo transistor or any such device. The signal is processed in interface circuit C2 to suit input voltage levels of electronic controller and when the controller realizes that the headlamp H is on while the light sensor LD shows bright ambient, which is a fault case, the controller sets the fault flag for the headlamp subsystem high in its memory. The controller checks its memory for wait-time and waits for the prerecorded duration of the fault flag, to avoid any incident light from other vehicles causing wrong measurements at the light sensor LD, and then the controller obtains the priority (or preference) number for the headlamp subsystem and checks in its memory for the pattern of vibration signal to be given to the vibration generator from a set of prerecorded signals. The pattern of the vibration constitutes duration of the vibration, amplitude of the vibration, and duty ratio of the vibration.

The patterns of these signals are different for different subsystems.
The duty ratio, intensity of vibration signals may be controlled by modulating the voltage to the vibration generator, a small motor system in the exampled case above, through the controller with any known pulse width modulation techniques.
The purpose of including fault signal indication system is to increase overall safety of driving. The patterns in vibration are included to avoid monotonic vibrations which may sometimes be misunderstood as vehicle vibrations. The variations in intensities of vibrations for different fault occurrences based on preference is included to make the user aware of all system faults but respond to only such warnings whichever the user feels important.
It will be appreciated that the terms and expressions herein are of description and not of limitation, there being no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features illustrated and described but it is understood that various other embodiments are possible without departing from the scope and ambit of this invention.

We Claim:
1 A vibration generator system for fault indication in a motor vehicle, comprising a vibration generator mounted inside at least one end of the handle bar of the vehicle, an electronic controller for generating vibrational signals to activate the vibration generator and produce vibrations at the handle bar; sensor means for sensing fault conditions of designated equipment of the motor vehicle and creating fault signals; the said electronic controller also for receiving the fault signals from the sensor means and processing these signals to obtain vibration signals to be given to vibration generator; the electronic controller being programmed to prioritize the signals in order of predetermined importance; time delay means for allowing a predetermined interval of time to pass, during the existence of each fault, before a corresponding fault signal is communicated by the electronic controller to the vibration generator, the duration, intensity and pattern of the vibrational signals at the vibration generator being predetermined by the electronic controller for identifying the respective faults.

2. A vibration generator system for fault indication in a
motor vehicle wherein the vibration generator is mounted
inside the hollow portion of at least one end of the handle
bar
3. A vibration generator system for fault indication in a motor vehicle wherein the vibration generator consists of a motor with shaft connected to an eccentric load.
4. A vibration generator system for fault indication in a motor vehicle substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.