Non-illuminated hazardous material placard system with electronic paper technology

Abstract

An E-paper hazardous placard system made up of non-illuminated colored placards for vehicles carrying hazardous materials. The colored placards are changed as desired on screen or using a remote control to signal different hazardous loads. The placards are based on display panels of electronic paper. There are at least four colored placards on each side of a vehicle to collectively identify the hazardous cargo being transported in compliance with federal regulations. The system requires power only when selecting images, not to maintain them, so there's no risk of losing the image and being in violation of federal regulations.

Claims

1. A non-illuminated hazardous placard system for vehicles carrying hazardous materials comprising: At least one diamond-shaped placard unit comprising a flat display panel being positioned on one of the four sides of a vehicle; Placard unit being adapted to display a multi-colored hazardous material sign on demand; Power source for the duration of selecting the required image; Said power source can be connection to the vehicle's existing power system or independent source; In case of not using touchscreen control a remote control unit to select required image.

2. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. Said flat display panel being an electronic paper panel.

3. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. Said flat display panel does not require power to maintain the displayed images

4. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. Said flat display panel requires power to select the required images

5. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. Said flat display panel has a size of at least 250 mm on all sides.

6. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. Said display panel is mounted directly on vehicle or placed in existing placard holder.

7. The non-illuminated hazardous placard system according to claim 1. There being at least four diamond-shaped placard units, positioned one on each of the four sides of the vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard placed on one side of a commercial vehicle

[0024] FIG. 2 is a front view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard operated with touch-screen control

[0025] FIG. 3 is a front view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard operated with a remote control

[0026] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard with an input for temporary power supply

[0027] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard permanently connected to a commercial vehicle's power supply

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard placed on one side of a commercial vehicle. Federal regulations require placards to be placed on all four sides of a vehicle transporting hazardous material. The other three placards are not visible on the drawing.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows a placard that can be controlled with a touchscreen display. Electronic paper displays have touchscreen capabilities that makes selecting the images very simple, with no need for additional devices for the system.

[0030] FIG. 3 shows a placard that is controlled with a remote control if it is preferred by the consumer. The images can be selected by the remote control on-screen, an advantage of this application, that the remote control could be used as a temporary power supply for the electronic paper display for the duration of selecting images, therefore eliminating the need for any other power supply.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows a 3D view of a placard with an input on the body for temporary power supply to change images. This configuration is the first of the options for providing power for the duration of image selection. The power supply could be a simple battery, battery operated device or a remote control with the matching output connection.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a Non-illuminated hazardous material placard permanently connected to a commercial vehicle's power supply. This configuration is the second of the options for providing power for the duration of image selection.

[0033] The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment because describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this disclosure, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.