A safety interlock for the operation of a vehicle whereby the throttle is disabled unless the occupants of the vehicle are properly safety belted. CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the priority of U.S. provisional application No.

61/565,567, filed on Dec. 1, 201 1, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the technical field of automobile instrumentation and safety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The existing technology that causes a warning buzzer or beeper to sound along with a flashing light to annoy the occupants into fastening their seatbelts is the present state of the technology. Those familiar with the art will recognize that the current state of the art does not prevent the driver or occupant from traveling in an automobile unbelted, hence the largest number of traffic fatalities on the highway result from collisions unbelted. The present invention is a significant improvement over the prior art. In the present invention, the presence of the occupant of a seat is sensed by the technology in the vehicle. In an electric vehicle, a hard electrical connection is opened between the key switch of the vehicle and the main power contactor, thus preventing the vehicle from being powered in any direction by the traction motor. This is a significant improvement over the present art, making the vehicle inherently safer than vehicles operated by unbelted drivers or transporting unbelted passengers. Not only do Department of Transportation (DOT)-approved seat belts hold the occupant at or near the "H" Point of the vehicle, which is the furthest possible position from any hard interior surface inside the vehicle, but they also prevent the passenger from being significantly involved with the ballistic air bags now installed in all highway approved vehicles. The air bag is responsible for a significant number of injuries and deaths each year from out of position occupants during a collision greater than 16 miles an hour, and more particularly more than 30 miles per hour. The disclosed invention will save lives and greatly reduce the influence of the air bag on injuries or fatalities in automobile collisions.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a circuit design whereby there is a sequence of safety devices connected in series so as to prevent the traction operation of an electric vehicle without the seat belts properly fastened around all seated occupants of the vehicle. The present invention comprises a seat belt switch. In addition, the present invention also may comprise one or more of an emergency stop button, one or a plurality of battery kill switches, one or a plurality of inertia switches, one or a plurality of battery charger isolation relays, and a zero throttle limit switch, in series with the seat belt switch. This combination series will prevent the vehicle from moving under its own power without all of the deployed devices being in the proper electrical state of connection.

The present invention is a unique and novel design and provides a significant safety feature for an automobile that will save lives and prevent injury due to operation of such an automobile with unbelted occupants. The electrical circuit contains normally open and normally closed hard contacts, as opposed to software conditions such as those found in computer logic programs, which greatly improves the reliability of the circuit and prevents the disabling of the safety feature by owners or operators of the vehicle.

This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all features of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the safety circuit that comprises the series-parallel arrangement of hard contacts between the key switch and the main contactor for the electric vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the invention in more detail, an embodiment of the present invention comprises a Key Switch, which is a switch that typically requires a key coded to the particular automobile and will rotate to connect a power volt, such as a 12-volt battery, to various circuits of the automobile. In an embodiment, a wire is connected to the normally closed hard contacts in the Emergency Stop (E-Stop) switch. If the switch is not depressed, the hard contact conducts the battery voltage to the next device in series. The next device in series is the normally closed hard contact in a relay that is energized with the Alternating Current (AC) input power connected to the electric vehicle through a power cord. If the energized power cord is attached to the electric vehicle charger inlet, then the relay is energized, and the normally closed hard contacts are opened, thus breaking the series circuit and providing the safety feature of not allowing the main contactor to be energized while the charging cord is attached. This prevents the driver from driving the vehicle away with the power cord attached. If the power cord for the battery charger is not attached, then the normally closed hard contact is closed, and the 12-volt battery power goes on to the next device in the safety circuit.

In an embodiment, the next device in the safety circuit is an inertial safety switch. If the vehicle has experienced an impact of greater than 5 miles an hour, the switch will open the hard contacts, stopping the flow of battery voltage to the next device in the safety circuit. If the inertial safety switch has been tripped to the open position, it may be reset to the closed position by pressing the red button on the switch, thus allowing the battery voltage to flow to the next device in the safety circuit.

In an embodiment, the next device in the safety circuit is the seat belt switch. The seat belt switch for the driver is always in the circuit. Occupation of the passenger seat is sensed by technology such as a limit switch under the seat set to change state if a weight greater than 30 pounds is present in the seat. The seat belt must be extended to the buckle plus three revolutions of the retractor to satisfy the switch. This prevents a person from simply deploying the seat belt to the buckle without going around the occupant of the seat, thus "cheating" the safety circuit. If the hard contact is satisfied, then the battery voltage flows to the next device in the safety circuit.

In an embodiment, the next device in the safety circuit is the throttle zero switch. This is a normally open switch which is mounted on the main traction throttle and changes state only when the throttle is at the zero position. This switch prevents the operator from energizing the key switch with the throttle depressed, which could cause the vehicle to unsafely lurch forward unexpectedly as soon as the key is turned. The safety circuit will not allow the battery voltage to flow to the next device in the safety circuit unless the throttle is in the zero position. In an embodiment, the next device in the safety circuit is the main power contactor. Once this device is energized, it will remain closed as long as all the conditions in the safety circuit remain in a conductive state. Changing the state of any of the devices in the safety circuit, except the momentary zero throttle switch— bypassed with an internal holding contact inside the throttle, will cause the main contactor to de-energize and the electric vehicle will coast to a stop.

Those familiar with the art will recognize that the disabling of the vehicle's traction process with the seat belt switch is significantly safer than the current state of the art buzzer or i

audible alarm. This is unique and novel and comprises the disclosed invention.

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention. Moreover, the terms "consisting",

"comprising" and other derivatives from the term "comprise" are intended to be open-ended terms that specify the presence of any stated features, elements, steps, or components, and are not intended to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, integers, steps, components, or groups thereof. Moreover, Applicants have endeavored in the present specification and drawings to draw attention to certain features of the invention, it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect to any patentable feature or combination of features referred to in the specification or drawings. The drawings are provided to illustrate features of the invention, but the claimed invention is expressly not limited to the illustrated embodiments.