FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR VEHICULAR SWITCHES HAVING AN OFF STATE AND A PLURALITY OF ON STATES
DHOOT TRANSMISSION PRIVATE LIMITED
an Indian Company of 15 km. Stone, Gut no 100, Farola, Paithan Road, Aurangabad - 431105,Maharashtra, India.
Inventor:
THOMBRERajendra
THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure relates to a circuit for controlling vehicular switches.
BACKGROUND
Generally, blinkers (Left Hand (LH) and Right Hand (RH) indicators) of a vehicle are driven by a flasher. The flashers used for this purpose are solid state switches. Such flashers include controller driven MOSFET with timers. Usually such timers are implemented using a network of resistors and capacitors. Such flashers are provided with short circuit protection using a current sensing circuit and also have a capability of either single flashing or double flashing.
However, the conventional circuit for flashers fails to detect status/ position of switches for actuation of the blinkers. Detection of position of switch is necessary for various mechanisms, such as a self-cancellation mechanism. Also, the conventional circuit fails to provide timeout function which is necessary in case a user has forgotten to switch off switches such as flasher switches. Further, the conventional circuits do not provide information related to states of switches.
Accordingly, there is a need of a circuit for controlling vehicular switches that detects status of switches and thereby activates or deactivates supply of power to switches. Also, there is a need of a circuit for controlling vehicular switches that provides timeout function. Further, there is a need of a circuit for controlling vehicular switches that can be used for diagnostic purpose. Furthermore, there is a need of a circuit for controlling vehicular switches that control the switches by sensing real time direction of turning of the vehicle.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the system of the present disclosure which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as follows:

It is an object of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a circuit to detect state of switches and thereby activate or deactivate supply of power to switches.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a circuit that provides timeout function.
Further, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a circuit that can be used for
diagnostic purpose.
Furthermore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a circuit for controlling power to vehicular switches that control the power to switches by sensing real time direction of turning of the vehicle.
Still, an object of the system of the present disclosure is to provide a self-protected logic controlled Electronic Power Switch which automatically shut down itself in case of faulty conditions thus protecting itself and system components which are in series and parallel to an electronic circuit, thereby eliminating conventional fuses.
Other objects and advantages of the system of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a control circuit for at least one vehicular switch having an OFF state and a plurality of ON states. The controller circuit includes:

• a controller;
• a sensor for sensing direction of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and adapted to communicate a real time acceleration signal with the controller;
• at least one state sensor adapted to sense which of the ON state of the
' switch is connected to and generate a state signal, the state sensor
adapted to transmit the state signal to the controller;
• at least one device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch and
adapted to receive a signal to selectively actuate the state of switch into
at least one of
I. an OFF state; and II. at least one of ON state.
In accordance with another embodiment, the control circuit further includes a power supply adapted to supply power to at least one of the controller, the sensor and the device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch.
The control circuit further includes at least one resistance of a high value connecting
the power supply and a terminal of the vehicular switch.
In one embodiment, the at least one state sensor is at least one diode.
The device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch includes at least one of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a bipolar transistor.
In one embodiment, the sensor is an accelerometer.
Preferably, the sensor is a dual axis accelerometer.
In an alternate embodiment,, the sensor is a gyro sensor.
The control circuit further includes a power supply of 5 volts.

In accordance with one more embodiment, the control circuit further includes a relay cooperating with a motor for cranking an engine of the vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The system of the present disclosure will now be explained in relation to the non-limiting accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a prior art circuit of a flasher for driving blinkers (Left Hand (LH) and Right Hand (RH) indicators of a vehicle);
Figure 2 illustrates a prior art circuit for headlamp switches of a vehicle;
Figure 3 illustrate a prior art circuit for cranking of an engine of a vehicle;
Figure 4 illustrates a circuit for a flasher for driving blinkers (Left Hand (LH) and Right Hand (RH) indicators in an automobile) for detecting, activating and deactivating power to switches in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 5 illustrates waveforms depicting a left-turn intention to the circuit of Figure 4;
Figure 6 illustrates waveforms depicting a right-turn intention to the circuit of Figure 4;
Figure 7 illustrates a circuit for a flasher for driving blinkers, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 8 illustrates an implementation of the circuit of Figure 4 for controlling headlamp switches, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Figure 9 illustrates an implementation of the circuit of Figure 4 for cranking the engine of a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The control circuit for vehicular switches having an off state and a plurality of on states, of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which do not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description provided is purely by way of example, and illustration.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The description hereinafter, of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a prior art circuit 10 of a flasher (F) for driving blinkers (Left Hand (LH) and Right Hand (RH) indicators in a vehicle). The flasher (F) is a solid state switch. The flasher includes a controller driven MOSFET with Timer. The timer is employed using a network of resistors and capacitors. The circuit 10 is employed with a switch SWlhaving terminals 1 and 2 which are used for switching purpose.
Whenever a switch is in idle position 1, there is no charging path for the capacitor Ct and hence the Flasher (F) is in OFF state. However, when the switch position is changed from 1 to 2 i.e. Terminal Tl and T2 are connected, the capacitor Ct gets charging path through the load Resistance LH or RH which in turn starts flasher to turn ON/OFF with a predetermined frequency which is a function of the load resistance, the internal resistance Rt of the flasher (F) and the external capacitance Ct connected to the flasher F.
However, the conventional circuit 10 fails to detect the switch state which is necessary for various mechanisms, such as a self-cancellation mechanism. Also, the conventional circuit 10 fails to provide timeout function which is necessary in a case when user forgets to switch off switches, such as a flasher switch SW1. Further, the conventional circuit 10 does not detect whether an operative left hand side indicator (LH) is on or an operative right hand side indicator (RH) is on. Hence, the conventional circuit 10 cannot be used for diagnostic purpose.
Figure 2 illustrates another prior art circuit 20 for headlamp switches. In this circuit 20, the head lamp switches are connected in series and parallel combinations. In accordance with this prior art circuit 20, there is no diagnostic circuit is provided in order to detect the state of the switch (SW3).
Figure 3 illustrates yet another prior art circuit 30 for cranking an engine of a vehicle. The circuit 30 does not facilitate detection of switch state i.e. state of switches SW1 and SW2 and state of switch SW3. Detection of switch state is helpful in case of an auto starter and cancellation of the same in case engine reaches idling speed after

, cranking at a predefined speed. SW2 denotes a starter switch, SW3 denotes a clutch switch, SW4 denotes a neutral switch, MG1 denotes a DC motor and ECU denotes an electronics control unit.
Accordingly, to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative, a control circuit for at least one vehicular switch having an OFF state and a plurality of ON states is described in this specification. Referring to Figure 4, the control circuit 100 includes a controller 102, a device 104, at least one state sensor Dl and a sensor 106. The sensor 106 senses direction of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and communicate a real time acceleration signal with the controller 102. The state sensor Dl sense that which of the ON state of the switch is in operating condition and generates a state signal in order to transmit to the controller 102. The device 104 senses ON and OFF state of the switch and receives a signal to selectively actuate the power state of the switch into either an OFF state or ON state. In one embodiment, the device 104 is a bipolar transistor. In an alternate embodiment, the device 104 is metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). In one embodiment, the state sensor Dl is a diode. The control circuit 100 detects a real time state of a switch SW1. The switch SW1 may be a switch shorted to a power supply such as a battery, a switch shorted to the ground, a switch shorted to ground through a load, a switch; for switching left or right indicator of a vehicle and a switch for switching upper beam and dipper beam of a.vehicle. The device 104 activates or deactivates the switch SW1 based on real time status of the switch SW1, real time direction of acceleration of the vehicle and a predetermined logic of the controller 102. The battery, typically having a voltage of Vbatt (12 V), provides power to controller 102, the sensor 106 and the device 104 for their operation. The control circuit 100 further includes a power supply, typically of 5V, for supplying power to the state sensor Dl for its operation.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit 100 is connected before mechanical switches to avoid any changes in electrical architecture of a vehicle. When a mechanical switch is in open condition in presence of a resistor Rp

(generally a resistance of a high value, in the order of KΩ) connected to the output of the control circuit 100 which in turn is connected to the switch, while other end of the resistor is connected to a power source; when switch is closed, switch shorted through load or switch short to ground condition is detected by the system and depending on the conditions loads may be either turn 'ON' or driven permanently 'OFF' till fault correction. Once the load is ON load wattage is sensed by the system by at least one Analog pin which receives proportional voltage corresponding to the load current by which Load wattage / current is estimated by the system, if load wattage /current goes beyond predetermined threshold, power to the switch is turned OFF also by sensing condition on the at least one pin. By at least one single digital input along with at least one analog feedback input pin current position of switch is detected. Similarly, a turn is sensed by a direction or acceleration sensor which is within the system. Knowing desired turning direction from the switch and knowing current turn status from direction or acceleration sensor, power to corresponding blinker can be cut OFF after taking desired turn successful turn. Similarly switching of power can be controlled to other switches depending on their status or position as desired and the present disclosure not limited to any particular application.
The control circuit 100 detects the state of the switch SW1 and auto turns off the power to switch S Wl in order to auto cancellation of the blinker of the vehicle.
When terminal Tl of the Switch SW1 is in de-active /normal state, state 1
1) Terminal Tl is connected to Vbatt via Rp, an output short to battery is detected by the controller 102 via pin An and Di =0 is detected at the input pin Di which is fixed and connected to T2 through a state sensor D1.
2) When Tl is connected to T2, Rp shorted to ground, through a low resistance RH of the blinker, is sensed by the controller 102 and power to Terminal Tl is turned on by the device 104 for a pre-determined period of time and again status of Tl is sensed to confirm Tl shorted to ground or Tl shorted to ground through a load. If Tl shorted to

ground is sensed by the device 104, power to terminal T1-T2 is Turned; Off by the controller 102 through the device 104.
If Tl shorted to ground through a load is sensed by the device 104, power to terminal T1-T2 is maintained uninterrupted till at least one condition below is true:
1) Tl Short to ground or over loaded detection
2) Blinker Pre-determined Time out
3) Direction signal for completion of an operative Left Hand turn comes from sensor 106 while T1-T2 are connected together and then direction signal of an operative Right hand turn is sensed after left turn signal and a predetermined time and the vice versa.
When Tl and T2 are connected, power to Tl is active.
Referring to Figures 4, 5 and 6, user's intentions to take turns i.e. LH or RH and actual turn to be taken may be accurately detected. Figure 5 illustrates waveforms depicting a left-turn intention. Figure 6 illustrates waveforms depicting a right-turn intention. Actual turn taken is detected by the sensor 106. typically having at least 2 axis sensing mechanism. In one embodiment, the sensor 106 is an accelerometer, more particularly a dual axis accelerometer. In an alternate embodiment, the sensor 106 is a gyro sensor. The output of the sensor 106 indicates actual turn direction. The sensor 106 sends a signal containing information about the actual turn direction to the controller 102. The controller 102 automatically cutoffs the power to the switch SW1 thus achieving an auto cancellation of the blinker.
In an alternate embodiment where Switches and MOSFETs are not limited to one for driving blinkers, switch activation momentary/continuous may cause corresponding blinker to be activated for a predetermined time as shown in Figure 7. Now as switches SW1 & SW2 in fig 7 are defined as LH and RH, knowing switch activation also gives desired turn direction. Known desired turn direction from switches and estimating actual turn direction from the sensor 106. auto/self-cancellation of blinker

can be achieved. In one embodiment, the control circuit 100 is packaged in a single unit.
In yet another embodiment as shown in Figure 8, a system 200 for switching high beam and low beam of a vehicle is described, wherein the control circuit 100 is used with switches connected in series and parallel for providing diagnostic. For example, in case of engine OFF and if a Parking PO switch SW1 is activated then sensing switch status, low wattage PO lamp is turned ON. In a case if the series head lamp switch SW2 is also turned on and parallel load of high wattage High Beam or Low Beam is applied with PO, sensing engine status decision can be taken to turn PO and Head Lamp OFF. If the PO switch is Toggled then, again sensing load, decision can be taken to again turn ON the switch PO. From Ai and Di inputs Headlamp status i.e. LB 'ON' or HB 'ON' can be estimated combining results from fig 4 ,5 and 6 .Thus incorporating diagnostic in a mechanical switch, various features and functions can be added which are not limited by these applications and not limited by switch sensing techniques available in numerous make of power switches.
In an alternate embodiment as shown in Figure 9, a system 300 is disclosed. The system 300 is used for cranking an engine of a vehicle through a relay RLY and a motor MG1 (a DC motor). The system 300 is used to detect number of starter Cranking cycle and to limit the same in unit time. The system 300 of the present disclosure is also useful in sensing status of an engine kill switch EK that can avoid unnecessary cranking, if the engine kill switch EK is in active mode. For example, in the absence of the control circuit 100, when the engine kill switch EK is not delivering any signal/power to an engine control unit (ECU) and if the engine is cranked, the engine is unable to start and the battery drains. Thus there is a need to detect user intention of cranking but allow cranking only when engine kill switch is ON or delivering power to ECU. In Figure 9, SW2 denotes a starter switch, SW3 denotes clutch switch, SW4 denotes neutral switch and MG1 denotes a DC motor.

Further, the system 300 of the present disclosure can also be used with a clutch and a neutral switch interlock. A digital input Di provides a diagnostic function for the status of switches SW3 & SW4. Further, the resistor Rp as disclosed in conjunction with' above-mentioned embodiments produces initially a controlled spark there between for removal of oxidation layer between the contacting points.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The technical advancements offered by the system of the present disclosure which add to the economic significance of the disclosure include the realization of:
• a system that detects status and position of switches and thereby activate or deactivate supply of power to switches;
• a system that provide timeout function;
• a system that can be used for diagnostic purpose; and
• a- self-protected logic controlled Electronic Power Switch which will automatically shut down itself in case of faulty conditions thus protecting system components which are in series and parallel to the electronic circuit arrangement thereby eliminating conventional fuses.
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 to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.

WE CLAIM:
1. A control circuit for at least one vehicular switch having an OFF state and a
plurality of ON states,, said controller circuit comprising:
• a controller;
• a sensor for* sensing direction of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and adapted to communicate a real time acceleration signal with said controller;
• at least one state sensor adapted to sense which of the ON state of said switch is connected to and generate a state signal, said state sensor adapted to transmit said state signal to said controller;
• at least one device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch and adapted to receive a signal to selectively actuate the state of switch into at least one of
I. an OFF state; and II. at least one of ON state.
2. The control - circuit as claimed in claim 1 further includes a power supply adapted to supply power-to at least one of said controller, said sensor and said device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch.
3. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 further includes a relay cooperating with a motor for cranking an engine of the vehicle.
4. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 further includes at least one resistance of a high value connecting said power supply and a terminal of the vehicular switch.
5. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one state sensor is at least one diode.

6. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said device for sensing the ON and OFF state of the switch includes at least one of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a bipolar transistor.
7. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor is an accelerometer.
8. The control circuit as claimed in claim 7, wherein said sensor is a dual axis accelerometer.
9. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor is a gyro sensor.
10. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a power supply of 5 volts.