Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a side stand sensor product and more particularly relates to the side stand sensor product for a two wheeler vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In two wheeler vehicles, when the vehicle is at a rest position or in parking position, the users park the vehicle either on its main stand or the side stand. When the vehicle is parked in its side stand, it has been observed that before the vehicle is driven by the user/driver, he or she many times forgets to put the side stand back to its normal “OFF” or Rest position, before starting the vehicle. During the drive if that side stand is ON, or not released by the driver, the side stand may hit any bump on the road. This may cause an accident to the driver.
For this reason, nowadays all the instrument cluster manufacturers for vehicles are giving side stand symbol on their speedometer console (Instrument clusters). When the side stand symbol is lit, it indicates that the side stand is not released. When the driver sees that lamp/indication is ‘on’ he gets indication (alert) that he/she has to release the stand.
There are different types of arrangements /ways by which this symbol can be turned ON. Conventionally, these indications are possible using different combinations given below.
1. A “Reed Switch“ and a lamp or LED in series with it
2. A “three wire hall sensor” and discrete electronic driving circuit
3. A ”two wire hall sensor” and microcontroller circuit to drive the lamp.
There is therefore felt a need to provide a side stand sensor product with accurate indication of the side stand position that can complement the existing vehicle architecture.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:-
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for two wheeled vehicles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for two wheeled vehicles that provides accurate and clear indication of side stand position in the vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for two wheeled vehicles without using additional microcontrollers or allied electronic circuit to drive the indication of the side stand position.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for two wheeled vehicles with enhanced reliability and cost effectiveness.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for two wheeled vehicles that can be incorporated in the existing wiring circuit without any requirement for additional changes in the architecture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Before the present invention is described, it is to be understood that present invention is not limited to particular methodologies and materials described, as these may vary as per the person skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a side stand sensor product for a two wheeler vehicle consisting of two wire hall sensor, magnet, LED indicator, input wire, output wire, internal resistor R1 and internal resistor R2. An external resistor is added to the circuit arrangement across the LED indicator to drive the LED indicator and indicate the position of side stand with accuracy. By placing the external resistor across the LED indicator, the external resistor bypasses the current flowing through LED indicator through itself, ensuring no glow of LED indicator when magnet is away from Hall sensor.
Another aspect of the present invention is such that the side stand sensor product is connected to a vehicle Electronic Control Unit ECU to indicate the side stand position by LED indicator and to also manage the ignition of the vehicle by connection with the vehicle MCU. An opto-isolator Integrated circuit is added to the circuit of the side stand sensor product when it is to be connected to the vehicle ECU and the connection of the side stand product with the vehicle ECU is by wire no. 1 as the output wire to the vehicle ECU and wire no. 2 is negative supply point, which is required for circuit completion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A complete understanding of the present invention may be made by reference to the following detailed description which is to be taken in conjugation with the accompanying drawing. The accompanying drawing, which is incorporated into and constitutes a part of the specification, illustrates one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, it serves to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.
FIG.1 is the diagram representing the circuit arrangement of the side stand sensor product using reed switch according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG.2 is the diagram representing the circuit arrangement of the side stand sensor product using two wired hall sensor according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG.3 is the block diagram of the side sensor product using reed switch according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG.4 is the block diagram of the side sensor product using two wired hall sensor according to an embodiment of the invention; and
FIG.5 is the diagram representing the circuit arrangement of the side stand sensor product using two wired hall sensor connected to the vehicle ECU according to an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Before the present invention is described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to particular methodologies described, as these may vary as per the person skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the invention to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS:

Sr. No. Description of the part
100 Side stand sensor product using reed switch
102 Reed switch
104 LED indicator
108 Input
110 Output
112 Side stand sensor product using two wire hall sensor
116 Internal Resistor- R1
118 Internal Resistor – R2
120 External Resistor
200 Internal Resistor -R1 (68 Ohm 0.25 Watt) for vehicle ECU connection
201 Two wire Hall sensor
202 Magnet
204 Internal Resistor -R2 for vehicle ECU connection (33 Ohm 0.25 Watt )
205 Vehicle ECU Resistor – R1 (120 Ohm 0.25 Watt)
206 Zener diode
207 MCU
208 Vehicle ECU Resistor – R3 (100 E 0.125 Watt)
209 Vehicle ECU Resistor – R2 (10K 0.125 Watt)
210 Opto- isolator – Integrated Circuit (IC-1)
212 Wire-1
214 Wire-2
216 Vehicle ECU

The present invention describes a side stand sensor product for two wheeler vehicles. The side stand sensor is used to detect and indicate the position of the side stand in a vehicle.
There are different side stand sensor circuits conventionally used for two wheeler vehicles.
1. A “Reed Switch“ & a lamp or LED in series with it
2. A “three wire hall sensor” & discrete electronic driving circuit
3. A ”two wire hall sensor” & microcontroller circuit to drive the lamp.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the side stand sensor product for two wheeler vehicles consists of replacement of reed Switch by two wire hall sensor without using microcontroller or allied electronic circuit to indicate the position of the side stand by driving the LED indicator.
In low end and low cost two wheeler vehicles that use reed switch (102) in the side stand sensor (100), the instrument clusters are not electronic but they are mechanical. As shown in FIG. 1, the wiring harness in the vehicle which goes to side stand sensor has two wires. One wire goes as input (108) to Reed switch (102) and the second wire one comes out as output (110) from the reed switch. The output wire (110) from the reed switch (102) drives the lamp or LED indicator (104) as shown in FIG. 1. The side stand, when it comes close to reed switch, the reed switch (102) becomes electrically ON due to magnetic field near the reed switch as shown in FIG. 3 and the LED indicator (104) (side stand symbol) turns ON. When the side stand goes away from the reed switch (102), due to no presence of magnetic field close to reed switch, the reed switch turns OFF and the LED indicator (104) or the symbol for the side stand gets switched OFF.
In conventional side stand sensors using reed switches, the reed switch is mostly encapsulated in glass tube. The glass tube is completely sealed. Generally, all Side stand sensors are filled with potting material which make them water & dust proof. However, the reed switches have reliability & life issues. The reliability is because of these switches being inside the glass tube. The glass tube is fragile & can break under mechanical stress and vibration. The life of the reed switch is generally less compared to hall sensors, because reed switches have physical contact in them. These switches tend to latch mechanically or magnetically after some number of operations. Therefore, hall sensors are a good replacement over reed switches. Generally, hall sensors are available in two wire or three wire form. In three wire form, the three wires are positive, negative and output. This is very easy combination to light a symbol/indication using three wires. But as said above, there are only two wires coming to reed switch, hence three wire hall sensors cannot directly replace reed switches. Hence, two wire hall sensor is used to replace the reed switch. In the conventional scenario, all two wire hall sensors produced in the world have a typical performance. It is like when there is no magnet close to sensor, the current sourced by the hall sensor is 4mA and when the magnet is close, the current is sourced around 15mA by the hall sensor as shown in FIG. 2.
In one of the embodiments of the present invention, as shown in FIG 2 and FIG 4, in the side stand sensor product with two wire hall sensor (112), when the magnet (202) is away from the two wire hall sensor (201), the current sourced is 4mA. This current is used for indication and lights the LED indicator (104) in series but with less brightness, which should be practically OFF as in case of Reed switch. Now when the magnet (202) is brought close to hall sensor (201) , the current sourced by the hall sensor is 15mA. This turns on the LED indicator (104) symbol bright.
State of Magnet LED symbol status with Reed Switch (FIG. 1) LED symbol status with Hall Sensor (FIG. 2)
Close LED symbol ON LED Symbol ON (bright)
Away LED symbol OFF LED symbol light dim (less brightness)

As shown in above table, when magnet (202) is away from hall sensor (201), the LED indicator (104) symbol lights dim, hence one cannot replace the Reed switch directly by using two wire hall sensor , without placing the external resistor (120) across LED indicator (104) circuit. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 2, additional external resistor (120) is put across the LED indicator (104) inside the instrument cluster. This additional external resistor (120) bypasses the current flowing through LED indicator (104) through itself, ensuring no glow of LED indicator (104) when magnet (202) is away from Hall sensor (201). This is indicated in Table 2.
State of Magnet LED symbol status with Reed Switch LED symbol status with Hall Sensor as per diagram 3
Close LED symbol ON LED Symbol ON
Away LED symbol OFF LED symbol OFF

Table 2
According to one embodiment of the invention, the external resistor (120) is added to the circuit arrangement in the side stand sensor product with two wire hall sensor (112). The value of external resistor (120) connected across the LED indicator (104) in instrument cluster is around 330 ohms to 380 ohms. Resistance value of resistor (120) less than 380 ohms also works but then the current in LED indicator (104) drops down when the side stand is ON. The drop in LED current leads to reduction in the intensity of LED light, which may cause visibility issue in the indication of side stand position.
According to the embodiment as described above, for better performance of circuit of the side stand sensor product with two wire hall sensor, Resistance value of R1 internal resistor (116) is between 100 to 150 Ohms, Resistance value of R2 internal resistor is between 56 to 68 Ohms (118), and Resistance value of external resistor (120) is between 330 to 380 ohms that gives the accurate and best result of LED indication of side stand position.
Example 1 :- When a red color LED indicator is used in the side stand sensor product with two wire hall sensor as described in the present invention, and the resistance values of R1(116) being 120 ohm, R2 (118) being 68 ohm and external resistor (120) being 380 Ohm, the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is off is 0mA and the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is on is 8.8mA.
Example 2 :- When a red color LED indicator is used in the side stand sensor product with 2 wire hall sensor as described in the present invention, and the resistance values of R1 (116) being 120 ohm, R2 (118) being 68 ohm and external resistor (120) being 330 Ohm, the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is off is 0mA and the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is on is 7.8mA.
This concludes that by adding a bypass external resistor (120) of a specific value across LED indicator (104) in an instrument cluster or separately, can drive the LED indicator (104) and indicate the position of side stand with accuracy. This product provides a failsafe, reliable & durable side stand sensor operation.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, as per FIG.5 of the present invention, the side stand sensor product of the present invention has a provision to be connected to any vehicle Electronic Control Unit (ECU) or Electronic Control Module (ECM). This connection not only provides indication of the side stand position by LED indicator but can also manage the ignition of the vehicle by connection with the vehicle MCU.
In this particular embodiment, the wire no. 1 (212) as shown in FIG. 5 is the output wire to the vehicle ECU (216) when connected with the vehicle ECU. Wire no. 2(214) is negative supply point, which is required for circuit completion. In the vehicle ECU, through Vehicle ECU Resistor R1-120 Ohm 0.25 Watt (205), both Hall sensor circuit(112) and vehicle ECU’s (216) signal conditioning circuit is energized. Vehicle ECU Resistor R3-100 Ohm 0.125 Watt (208) ensures that the current in vehicle ECU is controlled. The circuit as represented in Fig. 5 requires battery voltage input more than 11.5V.
According to this embodiment of the present invention, an opto-isolator Integrated circuit (210) is added to the circuit of the side stand sensor product (112) when it is to be connected to the vehicle ECU (216). When the magnet (202) is away from the hall sensor (201), the voltage on the wire 1 (212) is around 5V. However, when the magnet (202) is close to the hall sensor (201), the voltage on the wire 1(212) goes from 5V to 10V. Therefore, when the magnet is away from the hall sensor, the voltage on wire 1 is between 4 to 5 V and when magnet is close to the hall sensor, the voltage on this wire 1 is between 10 to 11V. As shown in FIG.5, the output on wire 1 from side stand sensor product, acts as an input to vehicle ECU. This input to vehicle ECU goes to the Zener diode (206) having 6.8V/0.25W and should get ground through ECU R2 resistor (209) as shown in the vehicle ECU circuit. This combination provides 0.5 to 1V voltage that is a digital low input to controller which is used in vehicle ECU, when magnet is away and the side stand is in horizontal position. However, when the side stand is on or in its vertical position, the magnet (202) is brought closer to hall sensor (201) in side stand sensor product. During this position, the voltage on wire 1 (212) is between 10 to 11V, which goes as an input to vehicle ECU (216), the Zener diode (206) and the ECU R2 resistor (209), will fetch 4 to 4.5V as digital high input to controller. Hence controller in vehicle ECU (216) detects the side stand position and the current will pass to the vehicle ECU. This effect is summarized in table 3.
State of Magnet Voltage on wire 1 Voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU
Close 10 to 11V 4 to 4.5V(digital high)
Away 4 to 5V 0.5 to 1V(digital low)
TABLE 3
As indicated in Table3, when magnet (202) is close to the hall sensor (201) in side stand sensor product, the voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU(216) is 4 to 4.5V & when magnet (201) is away, the voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU(216) is 0.5V to 1V. The vehicle MCU (207) that is the core power electronic unit of a vehicle, normally understands binary logic (0 OR 1). In digital electronics world, when the voltage at vehicle ECU (216) is around 0.5 to 1V, the MCU (207) understands it has received binary zero input from side stand sensor (112), that indicates that the side stand is released as the magnet is away from the sensor. When binary one input is received by MCU (207) MCU understands that the side stand is not released. Therefore, when voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU is around 4 to 5V, the software inside MCU will not allow ignition to be turned ON.
Voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU binary state of wire 1
0.5V to 1V 0(low)
4 to 5V 1(high)
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiment herein chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, and for result may be had to the doctrine of equivalence without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific elements of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many alterations can be made and that many modifications can be made in preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.
, C , Claims:We claim,
1. A side stand sensor product for a two wheeler vehicle consisting of two wire hall sensor (112), magnet (202), LED indicator (104), input wire (108), output wire (110), internal resistor R1 (116) and internal resistor R2 (118)
characterized in that
said side stand product has an external resistor (120) added to the circuit arrangement across the LED indicator (104) to drive the LED indicator (104) and indicate the position of side stand with accuracy,
said side stand sensor product is connected to a vehicle Electronic Control Unit ECU (216) to indicate the side stand position by LED indicator (104) and to also manage the ignition of the vehicle by connection with the vehicle MCU (207), and
an opto-isolator Integrated circuit (210) is added to the circuit of the side stand sensor product (112) when it is to be connected to the vehicle ECU (216),
the connection of the side stand product with the vehicle ECU (216) is by wire no. 1 (212) as the output wire to the vehicle ECU (216) and wire no. 2(214) is negative supply point, which is required for circuit completion.

2. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein by placing the external resistor (120) across the LED indicator (104), the external resistor (120) bypasses the current flowing through LED indicator (104) through itself, ensuring no glow of LED indicator (104) when magnet (202) is away from Hall sensor (201).
3. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the value of external resistor (120) connected across the LED indicator (104) is around 330 ohms to 380 ohms, resistance value of R1 internal resistor (116) is between 100 to 150 Ohms and resistance value of R2 internal resistor (118) is between 56 to 68 Ohms.

4. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when a red color LED indicator (104) is used and the resistance values of R1(116) being 120 ohm, R2 (118) being 68 ohm and external resistor (120) being 380 Ohm, the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is off is 0mA and the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is on is 8.8mA.

5. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when a red color LED indicator (104) is used and the resistance values of R1 (116) being 120 ohm, R2 (118) being 68 ohm and external resistor (120) being 330 Ohm, the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is off is 0mA and the current in the LED indicator (104) when hall sensor (201) is on is 7.8mA.

6. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the side stand sensor product (112) is connected to the vehicle ECU (216), and when the magnet (202) is away from the hall sensor (201), the voltage on the wire 1 (212) is between 4 to 5V and when the magnet (202) is close to the hall sensor (201), the voltage on the wire 1(212) is between 10-11V.
7. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the side stand sensor product (112) is connected to the vehicle ECU (216), the output on wire 1 from side stand sensor product, acts as an input to vehicle ECU and this input goes to the Zener diode (206) having 6.8V/0.25W and gets ground through ECU R2 resistor (209) and this combination provides 0.5 to 1V voltage that is a digital low input to controller which is used in vehicle ECU, when magnet is away and the side stand is in horizontal position.

8. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the side stand is on or in its vertical position, the magnet (202) is brought closer to hall sensor (201) in side stand sensor product and during this position, the voltage on wire 1 (212) is between 10 to 11V, which goes as an input to vehicle ECU (216), the Zener diode (206) and the ECU R2 resistor (209) will fetch 4 to 4.5V as digital high input to controller and the controller in vehicle ECU (216) detects the side stand position and the current will pass to the vehicle ECU.

9. The side stand sensor product as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the voltage at vehicle ECU (216) is around 0.5 to 1V, the MCU (207) understands it has received binary zero input from side stand sensor (112), that indicates that the side stand is released as the magnet is away from the sensor and when binary one input is received by MCU (207), MCU understands that the side stand is not released and so when the voltage at controller input in vehicle ECU is around 4 to 5V, the software inside MCU will not allow ignition to be turned ON.