TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is related to automatic horn warning sound generator in vehicles.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles generally include horns that are designed to provide an audible signal or warning to pedestrians or to other drivers. The driver has to take care of the safety of the vehicle and avoid collision with pedestrians and other vehicles or objects. In order to concentrate only on the driving and avoid using or concentrate on horn signaling during driving condition the present invention has been developed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows the generalized diagram of a vehicle generating ultrasonic waves and an obstructing object.

Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the automatic horn generator system.

Figure 3 shows the block diagram of input unit along with other components.

Figure 4 shows the flow chart for generating horn sound.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION

The primary embodiment of the invention an automatic horn generating system in a vehicle, said system comprising input unit (4) to detect objects in front of the vehicle and to send obstructing signals to an instrument cluster (IC) (5); the instrument cluster connected to the input unit (4) comprises a microcontroller, said microcontroller receives the obstructing signals to generate horn signal; and output unit comprising a horn connected to the IC to generate horn sound upon receiving the horn signal.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention the input unit (4) comprises an ultrasonic distance monitoring sensor (31) to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive reflected signals to detect the objects; an amplifier (34) to amplify the received signal; and a comparator to convert amplified signal into square wave signal to provide input to the microcontroller (5).

In still another embodiment of the present invention the IC comprises push buttons to set parameters for the microcontroller (5).

In still another embodiment of the present invention the parameters includes distance between the vehicle and the objects, horn volume and horn buzzer signal duration.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the distance ranging from about 5 meter to about 15 meters.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the horn volume is graded as low, medium and high.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the horn buzzer is activated for vehicle speed greater than about 5 km/h.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the microcontroller calculates the distance between the vehicle and the objects using the obstructing signals,

In still another embodiment of the present invention the microcontroller generates horn signal by comparing the calculated distance with object distance parameter.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for generating automatic horn in a vehicle comprises acts of detecting obstructing objects in front of the vehicle and generating obstructing signal; calculating distance between the vehicle and the obstructing objects using the obstructing signal; comparing the calculated distance with predefined distance parameter for generating horn signal; and generating horn sound based on the horn signal.

In yet another embodiment of the method the distance between the vehicle and the obstructing object is calculated using a microcontroller.

In yet another embodiment of the method the microcontroller compares the calculated distance and predefined distance to generate horn signal.

The automatic horn sound generator system is used in the four-wheeler vehicles. The system will generate horn sound upon detecting an object in front as shown in the figure 1. The vehicle (1) comprises the automatic horn sound generator system transmits ultrasonic waves and receives the reflected waves (2) from the object (3). This feature shall be applied for Instrument cluster which has programmable options for setting or resetting.

The automatic horn generating system consists of an input unit (4) which is an ultrasonic transducer sensor (4) connected to the instrument cluster (IC) (5) comprising microcontroller hardware as shown in the figure 2. The Instrument cluster (5) shall allows the driver to set the desired distance (5m to 15m), horn volume (Low, Medium and High) and the horn buzzer signal duration. The IC controller shall receive the distance signal periodically from the input unit (4) and check with the set distance value to active the horn signal. The output unit (6) comprises a horn generates the horn sound upon receiving the horn signal.

The microcontroller (5) enables or generates a 40 KHz burst signal which is generated by the timer. The timer is switched on when the burst signal start and the timer is stopped once receiving the feedback signal. This burst signals goes to the ultrasonic sensor transmitter and transmitted as ultrasonic sound signal through the air. When the signal is reflected off an object, the ultrasonic receiver captures this wave signal. This received signal is amplified because the signal might get attenuated as it travels. The amplified signal is feed back to the microcontroller unit, which calculates the distance based on the time duration captured.

By using this feature the driver can avoid using or concentrate on horn signaling during driving condition. The horn shall be activated only if the speed signal is greater than 5 km/h,

The ultrasonic distance-monitoring sensor will be placed at the front side of the vehicle (1). The ultrasonic waves spread or transmitted in the air (2), which might hit the nearest object (3) and get reflected back to source.

Input unit (4) comprising the ultrasonic sensor as shown in the figure 3. Its role is to transmit and receive the sound signals based on request from microcontroller (5). The ultrasonic receiver unit receives the reflected signal from the object. The received wave is given to the amplifier (34) in order to amplify the received weak signal. After amplification the amplified wave is given to zero adjustment amplifier, then the output is given to comparator in which the wave signal is converted into corresponding square wave signal. Then the square wave signal is given to the input of the microcontroller (5).

The parameter setting is carried out done using the Mode (35) and Set (36) switches of the IC which are interfaced to microcontroller interrupt pin as shown in the Figure 3. If the mode (35) button is pressed the Display shows the following menu:

1. Distance data.
2. Volume level or intensity.
3. Buzzer output duration.

The mode button rolls over all the above options one each mode button press* if the mode button is pressed more than 2 or3 seconds then based on the selection option, the sub mode gets activated as shown below.

1. Distance data.
*10m 5m 3m lm

2. Volume level or intensity.
* Low Medium High

3. Buzzer output duration.
* 3 sec 6 sec 9 sec

Selecting any one sub menu option and pressing the set button to store the value of the predefined parameters. The option with * values are taken as default values.

The flow chart as shown in the figure 4 explains the generating of horn buzzer signal by the microcontroller (5). IC activates the microcontroller by using the push button start (11), and the microcontroller initialization takes place (12). The loading process starts
that is stored values from memory are used which comprises distance value, buzzer duration and buffer level (13). The microcontroller (5) receives the distance information from the ultrasonic sensor (14) and calculates the distance between the vehicle and the obstructing object i.e. comparing the time between the transmitted signal and the received signal, which is equal to the distance of the object (15), In the microcontroller, check the distance data set value against the current or processed data value (16), if the data value is equal or lesser than the set value then provide or generate the buzzer output (17) as per the buzzer duration time set along with the volume level set.

The microcontroller (5) outputs the PWM or timer pulse as output to the Horn connected for the duration set by the customer as horn signal if the distance criteria meets the set value.

Finally, while the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We Claim;

1. An automatic horn generating system in a vehicle, said system comprising:

a. input unit (4) to detect objects in front of the vehicle and to send obstructing
signals to an instrument cluster (IC) (5);

b. the instrument cluster (5) connected to the input unit (4) comprises a
microcontroller, said microcontroller receives the obstructing signals to generate
horn signal; and

c. output unit (6) comprising a horn connected to the IC to generate horn sound upon
receiving the horn signal.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input unit (4) comprises
an ultrasonic distance monitoring sensor (31) to transmit ultrasonic waves (2) and receive reflected signals to detect the objects (3);

an amplifier (34) to amplify the received signal; and

a comparator to convert amplified signal into square wave signal to provide input to the microcontroller (5).
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the IC comprises push buttons to set predetermined parameters for the microcontroller.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the parameters includes distance between the vehicle and the objects, horn volume and horn buzzer signal duration.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the distance ranging from about 5 meter to about 15 meters.

6. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the horn volume is graded as low, medium and high.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 or 4, wherein the horn buzzer is activated for vehicle speed greater than about 5 km/h.

8. The system as claimed in claims 1 and 4, wherein the microcontroller (5) calculates the distance between the vehicle (1) and the objects (3) using the obstructing signals.

9. The system as claimed in claims 1 and 8, wherein the microcontroller generates horn signal by comparing the calculated distance with object distance parameter.

10. A method for generating automatic horn in a vehicle comprises acts of:

a. detecting obstructing objects in front of the vehicle and generating obstructing
signal;

b. calculating distance between the vehicle and the obstructing objects using the
obstructing signal;

c. comparing the calculated distance with predefined distance parameter for
generating horn signal; and

d. generating horn sound based on the horn signal.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the distance between the vehicle and the obstructing object is calculated using a microcontroller.

12. The method as claimed in claims 10 and 11, wherein the microcontroller compares the calculated distance and predefined distance to generate horn signal.