Ford Motor Company Limited

Jaguar Cars Limited

Cambridge Consultants Limited

Graeme Peter Smith

Eric Nicol Clouston

Gordon Kenneth Andrew Oswald

Michael Julian Richardson

Nicholas John Kerry

A radar system adapted to be installed on a vehicle (,) is operable to detect objects in different fields of view of the system. The system has transceiver means (,) for transmitting a radar signal and receiving the signal after the latter has been reflected from an object to be detected. A reflected signal is sampled by sampling means (,) during a succession of sampling periods each of which is delayed with respect to a corresponding portion of the transmitted signal. The gating of the reflected signal effectively generates range shells, each of which corresponds to the time taken for a transmitted signal to reach an object at the shell, and to be reflected back to the system and is hence related to the delay between the transmission of the signal and the corresponding sampling period. The range shells define the field of view of the system, which can be changed by altering said delay. Such alterations are carried out under the control of control means which is connected to sensor means for detecting a property of the operation of the vehicle, determining a required position of the field of view, and setting the field of view of the system accordingly. The range shell positions, and hence fields of view, can also be changed by selecting alternative transmitters and/or receivers of the transceiver means. There is also shown a motor road vehicle which has a radar system comprising a pair of transmitter antennas at two alternate corner regions of the vehicle and a pair of cooperating receiver antennas of the other two corner regions. Certain embodiments of the system also have the facility to generate range shells which are swept over an area around the vehicle or which track detected objects.

Vehicle radar system

Cruise control system for a vehicle includes a sensor for monitoring the speed of the vehicle, a sensor for monitoring the range of vehicles moving in front of the equipped vehicle, switch means for manually selecting a cruising speed, switch means for manually selecting a headway which controls the separation between the equipped vehicle and a vehicle moving in front of the equipped vehicle and means for switching the cruise control system on and off. The switch means for selecting the headway is manually adjustable between a minimum value and a maximum value. Automatic switch means is provided for switching the cruise control system off when the vehicle is stopped, the headway being automatically switched to a maximum value when the cruise control system is switched on.

Cruise control system for motor vehicles

A motor vehicle collision warning system 1 comprises an obstacle sensing system 3 including a plurality of sensors 5 together capable of sensing obstacles around the vehicle 7 and generating obstacle of concern signals when obstacles are sensed, and a warning control system 9 for receiving the obstacle of concern signals and for determining whether a collision warning signal should be generated. The sensing system includes at least one antenna cluster 11 mounted in the region of a corner 13 of the vehicle 7, the antenna cluster 11 comprising a radar transmit antenna 15 and two receive antennas 17 and 19. The transmit antenna 15 is mounted between the receive antennas 17 and 19. Receive antenna 17 faces towards the front of the vehicle and receive antenna 19 faces towards the rear of the vehicle. A trigger means 21 triggers the operation of the transmit antenna 15 and one or both of the receive antennas 17 and 19.

Growing community of inventors

Bishops Stortford, United Kingdom

Graeme Peter Smith