Vehicle performance indicator system

Claim 2

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedomter-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total enging revolutions takeoff respectively, underspeed comparator means for comparing said numerical value representing the instantaneous vehicle velocity with a preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, said underspeed comparator means being operative to produce a vehicle underspeed signal whenever said instantaneous vehicle velocity is below said preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, mode selector switch means connected between said pulse generator means and said gating means, including an odometer-total engine revolutions display system comprising a frequency divider for dividing down said series of electrical pulses applied thereto from said pulse generator means said frequency divider having a plurality of inputs representing various frequency division ratios, said mode selector switch means having its input connected to the output of said pulse generator means and its output selectively connected to one of said frequency divider inputs.

Claim 3

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 1, including a monostable multivibrator connected to the output of said frequency divider and operative to produce a series of fixed pulses corresponding to said divided-down series of pulses, and an impulse counter connected between the output of said monostable multivibrator to count-up and continuously display said divided-down series of electrical pulses.

Claim 4

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, said counter means comprising a one-or-blank counter including an inverter, a flip-flop having an asynchronous set input terminal and an asynchronous reset input terminal and an output terminal and coupling means connecting the output of said inverter and the asynchronous set input terminal of said flip-flop.

Claim 5

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, said counter means comprising a one-or-blank counter including an inverter, a flip-flop having an asynchronous set input terminal and an asynchronous reset input terminal and an output terminal and coupling means connecting the output of said inverter and the asynchronous set input terminal of said flip-flop.

Claim 6

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 3 wherein said counter Means is operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto.

Claim 7

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 4 including decoder means having its input connected to the output of said counter means said decoder, means being operative to convert said binary coded decimal number to a multi-segment decimal number.

Claim 8

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 5 wherein said digital display means comprises at least one numeric display transducer.

Claim 9

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, mode selector switch means connected between said pulse generator means and said gating means, said gating means comprising a signal input terminal and gate input terminal, said series of electrical pulses from said pulse generator means being applied to said signal input terminal, said counter means comprising a latch circuit operative to apply a gating signal corresponding to said preselected time interval to said gate input terminal, said latch circuit comprising a bistable latch having first and second input terminals and first and second output terminals, a data transfer interval timer connected between the first output terminal and said first input terminal of said bistable latch, and a counting interval timer having an output terminal connected to the second input terminal of said bistable latch said counting interval timer having a first input terminal connected to the second output terminal of said bistable latch and a second input terminal connected to the output of said mode selector switch, said first output terminal of said bistable latch being connected to said gate input terminal of said gating means.

Claim 10

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, mode selector switch means connected between said pulse generator means and said gating means, said gating means comprising a signal input terminal and gate input terminal, said series of electrical pulses from said pulse generator means being applied to said signal input terminal, said counter means comprising a latch circuit operative to apply a gating signal corresponding to said preselected time interval to said gate input terminal, said latch circuit comprising a bistable latch having first and second input terminals and first and second output terminals, a data transfer interval timer connected between the first output terminal and said first input terminal of said bistable latch, and a counting interval timer having an output terminal connected to the second input terminal of said bistable latch said counting interval timer having a first input terminal connected to the second output terminal of said bistable latch and a second input terminal connected to the output of said mode selector switch, said first output terminal of said bistable latch being connected to said gate input terminal of said gating means.

Claim 11

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 7 wherein said gating means comprises a signal input terminal and a gate input terminal, said series of electricl pulses from said pulse generator means being applied to said signal input terminal, and wherein said counter means comprises a latch circuit operative to apply a gating signal corresponding to said preselected time interval to said gate input terminal.

Claim 12

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 7 wherein said counting interval timer comprises a unijunction transistor.

Claim 13

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 9 wherein said data transfer interval timer comprises a unijunction transistor.

Claim 14

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaNeous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, overspeed comparator means operative to compare said numerical value representing the instantaneous vehicle velocity with a preselected maximum desirable vehicle velocity to produce a vehicle overspeed signal whenever said instantaneous vehicle velocity exceeds said preselected maximum desirable velocity, and vehicle overspeed indicator display means connected to said overspeed comparator means to provide an indication of the vehicle overspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said overspeed comparator means comprising a variable decoder having first and second sets of input terminals said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said variable decoder said variable decoder being operative to produce a pulse indicating the exceeding of said maximum desirable vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said variable decoder being operative to widen said variable decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent vehicle overspeed signal.

Claim 15

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaNeous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, overspeed comparator means operative to compare said numerical value representing the instantaneous vehicle velocity with a preselected maximum desirable vehicle velocity to produce a vehicle overspeed signal whenever said instantaneous vehicle velocity exceeds said preselected maximum desirable velocity, and vehicle overspeed indicator display means connected to said overspeed comparator means to provide an indication of the vehicle overspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said overspeed comparator means comprising a variable decoder having first and second sets of input terminals said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said variable decoder said variable decoder being operative to produce a pulse indicating the exceeding of said maximum desirable vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said variable decoder being operative to widen said variable decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent vehicle overspeed signal.

Claim 16

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 11 wherein said variable decoder comprises a NAND gate having a plurality of inputs, a plurality of OR gates each having a plurality of inputs, one of said OR gate inputs connected to said code selector switch and at least one other OR gate input connected to said counter means, the output of each of said OR gates being connected to an input terminal of said NAND gate respectively, and the output of said NAND gate being connected to said turnoff delay.

Claim 17

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 12 wherein said turnoff delay comprises a pair of flip-flops connected in composite bistable arrangement.

Claim 18

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count-up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, overspeed comparator means for comparing the instantaneous engine rotational speed with a preselected maximum desirable engine rotational speed and to produce an engine overspeed signal whenever said instantaneous engine speed exceeds said preselected maximum desirable engine speed, and overspeed indicator means connected to said overspeed comparator means to provide an indication of the engine overspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said excess engine comparator means comprises a variable decoder having first and second sets of input termials said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said First set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said variable decoder, said variable decoder being operative to produce a pulse indicating the exceeding of said maximum desirable vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said variable decoder being operative to widen said variable decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent excess engine speed signal.

Claim 19

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count-up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, overspeed comparator means for comparing the instantaneous engine rotational speed with a preselected maximum desirable engine rotational speed and to produce an engine overspeed signal whenever said instantaneous engine speed exceeds said preselected maximum desirable engine speed, and overspeed indicator means connected to said overspeed comparator means to provide an indication of the engine overspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said excess engine comparator means comprises a variable decoder having first and second sets of input termials said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said First set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said variable decoder, said variable decoder being operative to produce a pulse indicating the exceeding of said maximum desirable vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said variable decoder being operative to widen said variable decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent excess engine speed signal.

Claim 20

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 14 wherein said variable decoder comprises a NAND gate having a plurality of inputs, a plurality of OR gates each having a plurality of inputs, one of said OR gate inputs connected to said code selector switch and at least one other OR gate input connected to aid counter means, the output of each of said OR gates being connected to an input terminal of said NAND gate respectively, and the output of said NAND gate being connected to said turnoff delay.

Claim 21

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 15 wherein said turnoff delay comprises a pair of flip-flops connected in composite bistable arrangement.

Claim 22

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical vlaue of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, including underspeed comparator means for comparing said numerical value representing the instantaneous vehicle velocity with a preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, said underspeed comparator means being operative to produce a vehicle underspeed signal whenever said instantaneous vehicle velocity is below said preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, and underspeed indicator means connected to said underspeed comparator means and operative to provide an indication of the vehicle underspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said insufficient comparator means comprises a decoder having first and second sets of input terminals said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said decoder, said decoder being operative to produce a pulse to indicate that the instantaneous vehicle speed is below the preselected minimum vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said decoder being operative to widen said decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent vehicle underspeed signal.

Claim 23

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and to produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical vlaue of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, including underspeed comparator means for comparing said numerical value representing the instantaneous vehicle velocity with a preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, said underspeed comparator means being operative to produce a vehicle underspeed signal whenever said instantaneous vehicle velocity is below said preselected minimum desirable vehicle velocity, and underspeed indicator means connected to said underspeed comparator means and operative to provide an indication of the vehicle underspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said insufficient comparator means comprises a decoder having first and second sets of input terminals said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said decoder, said decoder being operative to produce a pulse to indicate that the instantaneous vehicle speed is below the preselected minimum vehicle velocity, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said decoder being operative to widen said decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent vehicle underspeed signal.

Claim 24

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 17 wherein said turnoff delay comprises a pair of flip-flops connected in composite bistable arrangement.

Claim 25

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and To produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, including underspeed comparator means for comparing said numerical value representing the instantaneous engine rotational speed with a preselected minimum desirable engine speed, said underspeed comparator means being operative to produce an engine underspeed signal whenever said instantaneous engine speed is below said preselected minimum desirable engine speed, and underspeed indicator means connected to said underspeed comparator means and operative to provide an indication of the engine underspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said underspeed comparator means comprises a decoder having first and second sets of input terminals, said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said decoder, said decoder being operative to produce a pulse to indicate that the instantaneous engine speed is below the preselected minimum engine speed, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said decoder being operative to widen said decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent insufficient engine underspeed signal.

Claim 26

A vehicle performance indicator system comprising pulse generator means operative for selective connection to the speedometer-odometer and tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoffs of a vehicle and To produce a series of electrical pulses in response to the operation of said vehicle takeoffs, gating means connected to the output of said pulse generator means operative to gate said series of electrical pulses over a preselected time interval, counter means operative to count up and store the numerical value of said gated series pulses and digital display means operative to selectively display said numerical value of said gated pulses representing selectively the instantaneous vehicle velocity when said pulse generator means is connected to said speedometer-odometer takeoff and representing the engine rotational speed when said pulse generator means is connected to said tachometer-total engine revolutions takeoff respectively, including underspeed comparator means for comparing said numerical value representing the instantaneous engine rotational speed with a preselected minimum desirable engine speed, said underspeed comparator means being operative to produce an engine underspeed signal whenever said instantaneous engine speed is below said preselected minimum desirable engine speed, and underspeed indicator means connected to said underspeed comparator means and operative to provide an indication of the engine underspeed, said counter means being operative to produce and store a binary coded decimal number corresponding to the number of electrical pulses applied thereto and said underspeed comparator means comprises a decoder having first and second sets of input terminals, said binary coded decimal number from said counter means being applied to said first set of decoder input terminals, and a code selector switch having its inputs connected to said counter means and its outputs connected to said second set of input terminals of said decoder, said decoder being operative to produce a pulse to indicate that the instantaneous engine speed is below the preselected minimum engine speed, including a turnoff delay circuit connected to the output of said decoder being operative to widen said decoder pulse, including a blanking and driver gate operative to selectively produce an intermittent insufficient engine underspeed signal.

Claim 27

A vehicle performance indicator system as defined in claim 19 wherein said turnoff delay comprises a pair of flip-flops connected in composite bistable arrangement.