Front brake light system for vehicles

Abstract

A vehicle implementing a brake light indicator system, the brake light indicator system including a brake pedal to allow the vehicle to slow down in response to a driver depressing the brake pedal, at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a front portion of the vehicle, and a sensor to transmit a signal to the at least one front brake indicator light in response to the driver depressing the brake pedal, such that the at least one front brake indicator light illuminates in response to receiving the signal.

Claims

1. A vehicle implementing a brake light indicator system, the brake light indicator system comprising: a brake pedal to allow the vehicle to slow down in response to a driver depressing the brake pedal; at least one front brake indicator light disposed within a windshield of the vehicle to variably flash, the at least one front brake indicator light comprising a matrix of very small lights disposed across an entirety of the windshield; and a sensor to transmit a signal to the at least one front brake indicator light in response to the driver depressing the brake pedal, such that the at least one front brake indicator light variably flashes in response to receiving the signal.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a rearview mirror disposed at the front portion of the vehicle, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed at a non-mirrored side of the rearview mirror.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light includes a first light disposed on a left side of the non-mirrored side of the rearview mirror and a second light disposed on a right side of the non-mirrored side of the rearview mirror.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a windshield disposed at the front portion of the vehicle, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed on or within the windshield.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a windshield frame disposed at the front portion of the vehicle, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed around at least a portion of the windshield frame.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a hood disposed at the front portion of the vehicle, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed at at least a portion of the hood.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a front end at the front portion of the vehicle, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed at at least a portion of the front end.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a front end at the front portion of the vehicle; and headlights disposed at the front end, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed at at least a portion of the front end near the headlights.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising: a bumper, wherein the at least one front brake indicator light is disposed at at least a portion of the bumper.

10. A brake light indicator system for a vehicle, the brake light indicator system comprising: a brake pedal to allow the vehicle to slow down in response to a driver depressing the brake pedal; at least one front brake indicator light disposed within a windshield of the vehicle, the at least one front brake indicator light comprising a matrix of very small lights disposed across an entirety of the windshield; and a sensor to transmit a signal to the at least one front brake indicator light in response to the driver depressing the brake pedal, such that the at least one front brake indicator light illuminates in response to receiving the signal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle implementing a front brake light indicator system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

(3) FIG. 2 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a rearview mirror, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

(4) FIG. 3 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a windshield, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

(5) FIG. 4 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a windshield frame, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

(6) FIG. 5 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a hood, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

(7) FIG. 6 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a front end, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and

(8) FIG. 7 is a front view of a vehicle implementing the at least one front brake indicator light disposed at a bumper, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) Various example embodiments (a.k.a., exemplary embodiments) will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodiments are illustrated. In the figures, the thicknesses of lines, layers and/or regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

(10) Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. Like numbers refer to like/similar elements throughout the detailed description.

(11) It is understood that when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly connected or directly coupled to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., between versus directly between, adjacent versus directly adjacent, etc.).

(12) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms a, an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms comprises, comprising, includes and/or including, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

(13) Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art. However, should the present disclosure give a specific meaning to a term deviating from a meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill, this meaning is to be taken into account in the specific context this definition is given herein.

(14) FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle 10 implementing a front brake light indicator system 20, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(15) Referring to FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 may include all typical vehicle components included in conventional vehicles well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the vehicle 10 may include a front portion 10a including a windshield 11, a windshield frame 12, a hood 13, a front end 14, headlights 15, a bumper 16, and a rearview mirror 17, and rear brake lights 18, but is not limited thereto.

(16) The front brake light indicator system 20 may include a brake pedal 21, a battery 22, a sensor 23, and at least one front brake indicator light 24. Alternatively, the battery 22 may be provided in another portion of the vehicle 10.

(17) As illustrated in FIG. 1, the at least one front brake indicator light 24 may be located at the front portion 10a, and may be connected to, disposed on, or be a part of, at least one of the windshield 11, the windshield frame 12, the hood 13, the front end 14, and the bumper 16.

(18) The brake pedal 21 may allow the vehicle to slow down and/or stop in response to a driver depressing the brake pedal 21.

(19) The sensor 23 may sense when the brake pedal 21 is depressed by a driver, and may transmit a signal to the rear brake lights 18 and/or the at least one front brake indicator light 24, such that the rear brake lights 18 and/or the at least one front brake indicator light 24 illuminate.

(20) The at least one front brake indicator light 24 may be disposed at the front portion 10a of the vehicle 10.

(21) The battery 22 may provide power to the vehicle 10, such that all electronic components within the vehicle 10 requiring power may function. For example, the battery 22 may provide power to an anti-lock braking system that activates when the brake pedal 21 is depressed by the driver. Similarly, the battery 22 may provide power to the sensor 23 and to the rear brake lights 18, such that the rear brake lights 18 illuminate in response to the brake pedal 21 being depressed by the driver.

(22) When the brake pedal 21 is depressed, the sensor 23 (which may be a different sensor than the sensor that causes the rear brake lights 18 to illuminate) may cause the at least one front brake indicator light 24 to illuminate, thereby alerting any pedestrians in front of the vehicle 10 that the vehicle 10 is slowing down and/or stopping. As such, if the vehicle 10 is in motion and the at least one front brake indicator light 24 does not illuminate, then the pedestrians may be alerted to the fact that the vehicle 10 is not slowing down and/or stopping.

(23) The at least one front brake indicator light 24 may be a series of light emitting diodes, halogen lights, fluorescent lights, incandescent lights, or any other types of lights that are clearly visible by pedestrians. Moreover, the at least one front brake indicator light 24 may be any color, including red, white, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, etc., but is not limited thereto.

(24) The following exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 2 through 7 include different positions of front brake indicator lights on the vehicle 10, which all may function in a similar manner as described above with reference to FIG. 1. Accordingly, the other elements of the front brake light indicator system 20, such as the brake pedal 21, the battery 22, the sensor 23, may function in a similar manner as described above with reference to FIG. 1.

(25) FIG. 2 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 24 disposed at the rearview mirror 17, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(26) Referring to FIG. 2, the at least one front brake indicator light 24 may be disposed on a back portion (i.e., non-mirrored side) of the rearview mirror 17. The at least one front brake indicator light 24 may include a single light extending across at least a portion of the back portion of the rearview mirror 17, or alternatively, may include a plurality of front brake indicator lights 24 disposed on left and right sides of the back portion of the rearview mirror 17, as illustrated specifically in FIG. 2.

(27) FIG. 3 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 34 disposed at the windshield 11, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(28) Referring to FIG. 3, the at least one front brake indicator light 34 may be disposed on or within the entire windshield 11 as a matrix of very small lights or light-strings disposed across an entirety of the windshield 11, which cause the entire windshield 11 to appear illuminated when the brake pedal 21 is depressed by the driver. The at least one front brake indicator light 34 may be relatively transparent and/or translucent, in order to allow the driver to clearly see through the windshield 11, even when the at least one front brake indicator light 34 is illuminated.

(29) FIG. 4 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 44 disposed at the windshield frame 12, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(30) Referring to FIG. 4, the at least one front brake indicator light 44 may be disposed on an entirety of the windshield frame 12, or just a portion thereof, such that the at least one front brake indicator light 44 is clearly visible to pedestrians when illuminated.

(31) FIG. 5 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 54 disposed at the hood 13, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(32) Referring to FIG. 5, the at least one front brake indicator light 54 may be disposed on at least a portion of the hood 13, such the at least one front brake indicator light 54 is clearly visible to pedestrians when illuminated.

(33) FIG. 6 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 64 disposed at the front end 14, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(34) Referring to FIG. 6, the at least one front brake indicator light 64 may be disposed on at least a portion of the front end 14, for example, near the head lights 15, such the at least one front brake indicator light 64 is clearly visible to pedestrians when illuminated.

(35) FIG. 7 is a front view of the vehicle 10 implementing the at least one front brake indicator light 74 disposed at the bumper 16, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

(36) Referring to FIG. 7, the at least one front brake indicator light 74 may be disposed on at least a portion of the bumper 16, such the at least one front brake indicator light 74 is clearly visible to pedestrians when illuminated.

(37) Additionally, the at least one front brake indicator light may be disposed on a front portion, a back portion, a side portion, a top portion, and/or a bottom portion of side mirrors on the vehicle.

(38) Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.