The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 25, 1999
Filed:
Jul. 29, 1997
Paul K Zoratti, Canton, MI (US);
Thomas J Blessing, Canton, MI (US);
ERIM International, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Abstract
A collision avoidance system for a vehicle of the type having a powered lift mechanism with a lift control used to move the mechanism between a predetermined safe position and an elevated position includes a first sensor to determine whether the mechanism is in the safe or the elevated position, and a second sensor used to determine whether an operator is using the lift control to power the mechanism beyond the safe position. If the mechanism is in the elevated position and the operator is not using the lift control to power the mechanism beyond the safe position, control electronics are operative to automatically transfer the mechanism from the elevated position back to the safe position without operator intervention. Means may be provided for alerting an operator of the vehicle when the mechanism is in the elevated position, for example, in the form of an intermittent, periodic audible and/or visual indicator which continues until the mechanism is brought back to the safe position. A vehicle speed sensor coupled to the control electronics may also be provided to cause the automatic transfer of the mechanism to occur move rapidly as a function of increasing vehicle speed.