FR2473747A1 - DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITIONING OF A PEN OF A TACHOGRAPH - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for controlling the positioning of a stylus of a tachograph. The stylus 7 is movable between a "driven" position when the vehicle is moving and a "stopped" position when the vehicle is stationary, and carried by a pivoting lever 3 resiliently returned to the stopped position. A control member 5, driven by a movement having an alternating component 17 when the vehicle is moving, is provided with a pusher 27 alternately tending to push the lever 3 towards the driven position and to let it return to the stopped position. A retractable stop 35-39 opposes this return when the vehicle is moving and allows it when the vehicle stops. Application to an automation of the passage and maintenance of the stylus in the driving position and in the stop position. (CF DRAWING IN BOPI)

Description

247374?

  The present invention relates to a device for controlling the positioning of a stylus of a tachograph,

  and in particular the so-called "driver" stylus.

  It is known that tachographs placed on commercial vehicles to record a certain amount of information include a stylus "driver" able to change between several positions,

  more precisely between a position called "position con-

  "in which he draws a graph showing the circulation of the vehicle, that is to say, that it rolls, and usually several positions called" stop positions "in which he draws graphs testifying

  stopping the vehicle for various reasons, respectively

  is lying; these "off positions" are for example three in number, in a position where the stylet records momentary interruptions in the circulation of the vehicle, for example for delivery purposes, and two positions intended to record respectively the times stop for maintenance or repair of the vehicle

  and the rest periods for the driver's rest.

  A switch placed on the tachograph housing

  phe allows the driver to manually position the stylus according to whether it is in one or the other

of these situations.

  However, if this solution is satisfactory for positioning the stylus for recording an often prolonged stop period corresponding to the rest of the driver or the immobilization of the vehicle for

  maintenance or repair, it can be seen that, frequently,

  The driver forgets to switch between the driving and stopping positions, especially when a short period of traffic is interrupted by frequent stops, for example in the case of delivery vehicles.

  This results in erroneous, unusable graphs.

  The purpose of the present invention is to remedy

  this drawback, and to propose for this purpose a

  tif automatically causing the passage and the maintenance

  of the "driver" stylus in the driving position or in a po-

  set stoppage determined manually by means of the switch.

  Thanks to this passage and this automatic maintenance in one or the other position, the driver is released from a constraint and any risk of forgetting is avoided, which makes it possible to obtain really representative graphs

of the vehicle.

  For this purpose, it is proposed a device for controlling the positioning of a stylus of a tachograph, to cause the passage and maintenance of the stylus in a predetermined position called "driving position when the vehicle is traveling and in another predetermined position called "stop position" when the vehicle is stationary, the stylet being carried by a lever pivotally mounted on

  a support, around a transverse axis, between a posi-

  driving and a stop position and comprising elastic return means from the position to the stop position, characterized in that it comprises: - a device and means for animating this body, relative to the support, a movement having an alternating component in a plane perpendicular to the axis, when the vehicle is moving, and for immobilizing it when the vehicle is stationary, - a pusher carried by the control member, in operative connection with the lever, alternatively t2473747 push the lever to the driving position and let it freely return to the stop position under the action of the elastic return means, - a retractable stop carried by the support, in operative connection with the lever, allowing a free movement of it to the driving position and opposing its return to the stop position, - means for automatically retracting the stop when the vehicle is stopped and has utoriser then the return of the lever to the off position under the action of the elastic return means

  Other features and advantages of

  will appear from the description below, relative

  to a mode of implementation without limitation, and drawings

  annexed which form an integral part of this description.

  FIG. 1 shows a front view of an automatic control device according to the invention mounted on a

  commercial tachograph, in driving position.

  Figures 2 to 4 show sectional views through

  plans II-II, III-III, IV-IV, respectively.

  Figure 5 shows the circuit diagram of the automatic pen return timer in the off position. On these figureson designated by 1 a platinum

  fixed support with respect to the body of the tachograph (not

  presented), and which has the shape of a portion of disc oriented transversely to a fixed axis 2

of this body.

  The plate 1 carries, in a manner known per se in tachograph technology, a pivoting lever 3 carrying a stylet called "stylet driver" 4, and a sliding rod 5 constituting a control member of the vehicle movement.

2473-747

  In known mannerAn end of the lever 3, which is substantially parallel to the plate 1, is pivotally mounted on the latter about an axis 6 parallel to the axis 2, with a possibility of slight deflection in all radial directions with respect to this axis 6; at its other end, the lever 3 carries the stylet 4, oriented substantially perpendicularly to the plate 1 and having at its farthest end a point 7 coming into contact, when the tachograph is in use, with a disc of waxed paper 8 of axis 2, driven in rotation around this axis by means not shown and known in themselves when the tachograph is in use; during this rotation, depending on the angular position of the lever 3 around the axis 6, itself

  function of the vehicle is stopped, is stopped

  temporarily, or for repair, or for a period of rest of the driver, the tip 7 of the stylus 4 evolves against the disk 8 on one or the other annular tracks of this disk to trace on it, as and when as its regular rotation over time, a representative graph

  successive instantaneous states of the vehicle.

  In FIG. 4, a portion of two of these tracks, namely a track 9 on which the tip 7 of the stylet 4 carries a graph in a circular curve, centered on the axis 2, is defined in dotted line. the lever 3 occupies around the axis 6 a corresponding position

  when the vehicle is stopped, and a runway 11, immediately

  sine and closer to the axis 2, on which the tip 7 of the stylus 4 draws a graph following a circle 12 also centered on the axis 2 when the lever 3 occupies around the axis 6 its position corresponding to the circulation of the

  vehicle (position shown in Figures 1 to 4), or posi-

  conduct; the track 9 corresponds for example to the momentary stopping of the vehicle, two annular marks (not shown) immediately adjacent to the track 9

  and further from axis 2 being intended respectively

  pen recording 4 downtime

  for repair or maintenance, and for rest of the driver.

  On a tachograph of traditional type, the angular position of the stylus 3 around the axis 6, that is to say the choice of the track on which the tip 7 of the stylus 4 draws a graph on the disc 8, is selected by manual action on a switch acting on a finger 13, substantially perpendicular to the plate, of an intermediate piece 14 mounted to pivot on the one hand on the plate 1 about an axis 15 parallel to the axis 6, and on the other hand on the lever3, approximately halfway

  both ends of it, around an axis 16 equal-

  parallel to the axis 6, the axis 15 being located approximately

  between axes 16 and 6; lever assembly 3

  with radial clearance around the axis 6 allows the operation

such an arrangement.

  The manual switch acts, for example,

  on a cam whose periphery, eccentric

  port to the axis of rotation, is in contact with the finger 13

  to act on it in thrust in the direction of a step-

  from the stylus to the driving position, in return for

  of a return spring 25, which will be described later, now this contact tending elastically to bring back

  the stylus towards the stop positions.

  In the case of a tachograph equipped according to the

  vention, manual switching is retained for ex-

  ple in the form above for the stylus positions

  corresponding to the stopping of the vehicle, that is to say

  temporarily stop, stop for driver rest and stop for maintenance; each of these positions of the manual switch (not shown), however, allows in fact the positioning of the stylus of a post in the preselected stopping position and secondly in its "driving" position, the passage of the stylus from one to the other of these two positions being automatically under the influence of a body testifying to the possible movement of the vehicle; it will be assumed later that the switch has been placed manually in its delivering position access on the one hand to the position of the pen corresponding to the momentary stop and secondly to the position corresponding to the circulation of the

  vehicle, as a non-limiting example.

  The body testifying to the eventual circulation

  of the vehicle is constituted by the rod 5, which exists

  tachographs of known type, but other

  witnesses, whether existing or not, could naturally

  be used as such without going out for

as much of the scope of the invention.

  The rod 5, in known manner, is substantially parallel to the plate 1 and slidably mounted thereon in an orientation schematically in the figures

  by a double arrow 17; for this purpose, the rod 5 pre-

  for example lights 18 and 19, parallel to the direction 17, in which respectively engage

  members 20 and 21 for retaining the plate 1.

  The direction 17, fixed relative to the plate 1, is approximately perpendicular to the plane defined by the axes 6 and 15; when the vehicle is traveling, the rod 5 is reciprocated in the direction 17 by a cam 22 mounted to rotate about an axis 23 perpendicular to the direction 17 and driven

  in rotation around this axis in synchronism with the

  tation of the output shaft of the vehicle gearbox (this output shaft and the means of connection with the cam 22 are known and have not been shown). Note that the cam 22 exists on many currently marketed tachographs, as well as the rod 5, but it will naturally not depart from the scope of the invention by controlling by other means the reciprocating movement reciprocating of the sample organ

  following direction 17.

  During the back and forth movement of the rod 5 in the direction 17, an elastic finger 24 of the linkage on the end of the lever 3 corresponding to the axis 6 to cause a movement back and forth of the

  lever 3 in rotation around the axis 16, the workpiece

  mediaire 14 then being fixed in the driving position; at the tip 7 of the stylus 4, this movement has an amplitude less than the width of a track of the disc 8, and results in a thickening of the line on this disc; this amplitude is related to that of the game, by

  relative to the axis 6, of the corresponding end of the lever.

  To do this, a coil spring 25 working traction links a point of the lever 3 located between the axis 16 and the stylus 4 at a point beyond the lever relative to the axis 2 to tend to move the stylet by relative to this axis, and the elastic finger 24 is in contact with the end of the lever 3 corresponding to the axis 6 so that, in one of its extreme positions corresponding to the movement back and forth of the 5 rod in the direction 17, it fully releases this end and allows a distance of the stylus 4 relative to the axis 2, under the action of the spring 25, within the limits allowed by the possible play of the lever around the axis 6 and, in the other extreme position, applies to the end

  of the lever 3 corresponding to the axis 6 a thrust against

  part of the action of the spring 25, to bring the stylus 4 of the axis 2 in-the limits allowed by the possible play around the axis 6; in the first extreme position mentioned above, the finger 24 nevertheless remains in contact with the lever 3, to hold against the periphery of the cam 22 the counterpart 26 thereof on the rod 5,

  cooperating then with the spring 25.

  Thus, if one refers to the relative positions illustrated in Figure 1 by way of non-limiting example, o the lever 3 is placed approximately horizontally at the upper part of the plate 1 and o the direction

  17 is approximately vertical, the rod 5 presents

  an upper end approximately at the extension of the lever 3 beyond the axis 6 and a

  bottom end in downward contact with the

  22, the spring 25 is located above the lever 3 and the elastic finger 24 below this lever, but other arrangements could of course be chosen without going beyond the scope of the invention. 'invention. According to the present invention, in addition to the elastic finger 24 existing on commercial tachographs, the rod 5 carries an elastic finger 27 acting as a pusher acting, via a lever 28, on the finger 13 to cause an automatic shift of the lever 3 from the selected stop position to the driving position, when the vehicle restarts after a stop,

  and to let the lever return to the OFF position

  lected when driving stops, in practice under

  the action of the spring 25 as will appear below.

  The intermediate lever 28, oriented parallel-

  1 to the plate 1 and rotatably mounted thereon about an axis 29 parallel to the axis 2, has the shape of an L, a branch of which makes contact with the finger 13 in the direction of rotation of that around the axis 15 corresponding to a rotation of the axis 16 or more generally of the lever 3, about the axis 6, in the direction 31 of the passage from a stop position to the driving position, and of which the other branch is located, relative to the finger 27, so as to receive therefrom, when the rod 5 is moved in a back and forth movement in the direction 17, a thrust in a direction corresponding to the direction rotation

  32 of the lever 28 around its axis 29 corresponding to

  even at a thrust applied by the lever 28 on the finger 13 in the direction 30.The directions 30, 31, 32 correspond in the illustrated example to a rotation in the trigonometric direction about the corresponding axes; the lever 28 has in this example an approximately horizontal branch 33 in downward contact with the finger 27 and articulated on the plate 1 about the axis 29 between the point of contact with the finger 27 and the second leg of the L 34, which is approximately vertically ascending and in contact, by its upper end, with the finger 13 situated on the same side as the spring 25 with respect to the

lever 3.

  In the case of the illustrated example, a movement

  upward of the rod 5 in the direction 17 accom-

  loin of the finger 27 in abutment under the branch 33 of the lever 28, which rotates in the direction 32 about the axis 29 and pushes by its branch 34 the finger 13 in the direction 30, resulting in the rotation of the lever 3 in the direction 31 around the axis 6, which brings after a stop the tip 7

  from stylus 4 on track 9 to track 1i on disc 8.

  During this movement, a retractable stop carried by the plate 1 and designed so that this passage is exerted freely, is placed so as to oppose a return movement of the lever 3 to the stop position if the vehicle continues to circulate; the abutment 35 is constituted by an elastic blade fixed by one of its ends 36 to the plate 1 and interposed at its second end 37 between the plate 1 and the branch 33 t2473747 of the lever 28, in sliding contact with the face 38 of this branch 33 which is turned towards the plate, On its face in contact with the face 38, the blade 35 has a notch 39 gently sloping towards the end 36 but steep towards the end 37 so that when the finger 27 pushes the branch 33 in the direction 32, the face 38 can slide on the region of the blade 35 closest to the end 37 and that, when the lever 28 occupies a position in which the lever 3 is in the driving position , notch 39 comes to snap on the edge of the branch 33 on which pushes the finger 27 to prevent a return of the lever 28, the part 14 and the lever 3 in the opposite direction when the finger 27 withdraws due to the movement -Alternative of the rod 5; this snapped position

  is illustrated in particular in Figures 1 and 2.

  The return of lever 3 to the selec-

  tion occurs automatically after a certain time, by the set of means retracting the notch 39 of the blade 35 and the finger 27, which releases the lever 28, the part 14 and the lever 3, and allows the spring 25 of

play its role of reminder.

  The timed retraction means comprise in the illustrated example a bimetallic strip 40 in contact at one of its ends with the face of the blade 35 farthest from the plate 1, close to the notch 39; the elastic finger 27 is also constituted by an elastic blade, the bimetallic strip 40 is also in contact

  with the face of the blade 27 furthest away from the plati-

  1, at its end in contact with the blade 35.

  The other end of bimetallic strip 40 is

  carried by a support 41 fixed relative to the plate 1.

  The bimetal can be compensated for temperature.

t2473747

  Between its two ends, bimetallic strip 40 is

  developed by a heating resistor 42 which causes, when supplied with electricity, an inflection of the bimetallic strip 40 in the direction of the plate 1, that is to say a pressure on the blades 27 and 35 causing the retraction of these last, and in particular the retraction of the screen 39

  which leaves the lever assembly 28- intermediate piece 14 -

  lever 3 return to the stop position selected under

the action of the return spring 25.

  The timer causing the heating resistor 42 to be electrically energized after a predetermined stopping time of the vehicle has been shown schematically in FIG. 5, where the output of the general contact switch of the vehicle has been designated by 44. an electrical contact disposed on the plate 1 so as to close when the lever 3 occupies the driving position and to open elsewhere (example shown in Figure 1, this contact is actuated by the intermediate piece 14 but could be operated also by the lever 3 itself, or by the lever 28, or by any other element occupying a position characteristic of the circulation of the vehicle), by a pulse transmitter placed at the output of the gearbox or an electrical contact actuated by the rod 5 to emit square signals when the

  vehicle circulates, by C a capacitor, by R a resistor

  tance, and by an LM 555 type integrated circuit.

  When the lever 3 occupies the driving position, in which position it is held by the action of the blade 35, the electrical contact 44 is closed, and puts into service the delay whose time is set by the capacitor C and the resistor R ; while the vehicle is traveling, the pulse transmitter 45 maintains the

  capacitor C charged to the supply voltage.

  If, on the other hand, the vehicle stops, which results in a lack of impulse coming from the transmitter 45, the capacitor C discharges into the resistor R, up to the tripping threshold of the integrated circuit 46 which controls the supply of the heating resistor 42, that is to say the heating and the deformation of the bimetal 40 which pushes the blade 35 and the blade 27

  towards the plate 1 and releases the lever assembly 28 -

  piece 14 - lever 3, which returns to the stop position under the action of the return spring 25; at the same time, the contact 44 opens and the timer is de-energized. Naturally, it will be possible to choose other means of immobilization and automatic release of the stylus driver without departing from the scope of the invention, in particular by acting more directly on the stylus; It should be noted that, even in its mode of implementation described and shown which corresponds to the equipment of an existing tachograph, the invention is simple and economical

  to implement, while offering an interesting automation

  health, providing a graph really representative of the sharing of time, especially between driving periods and periods of momentary stopping; for the latter, the choice of an appropriate delay time of the return of the stylus to the selected stop position

  prevents unwanted returns to this posi-

  when the vehicle is traveling at a very low speed or has to stop for a short time, for example

for reasons related to the traffic.

13 2473747

Claims (11)

  1. - Device for controlling the positioning of a stylus of a tachograph, to cause the passage and maintenance of the stylus in a predetermined position called "driving position" when the vehicle is traveling and in another position called "off position" when the vehicle is at a standstill, the stylet being carried by a lever pivotally mounted on a support, around a transverse axis, between a driven position and a stopped position and comprising elastic return means of the position driven to the stopping position, characterized in that it comprises - a control organ and means for animating   this organ, with respect to the support, of a movement   an alternative component in a perpendicular plane   to the axis when the vehicle is moving and for   when the vehicle is stationary.   a pusher carried by the control organ, in   functional link with the lever, for alternative   push it towards the driving position and let it freely return to the position. stopping under the action of elastic return means, - a retractable stop carried by the support, in operative connection with the lever, allowing the free movement thereof to the driving position and opposing its return to the stop position means for automatically retracting the stop when the vehicle is stationary, and then allowing the lever to return to the stop position under the action elastic return means.   2. - Device according to claim 1, characterized   in that the stop tends to occupy elastically its   stop position, and that the means for   have a bimetal strip applying to the abutment a 1; 2,473,747   retraction pressure when heated and the   liberating when it is cold, and means to pro-   to evoke the heating of the bimetallic strip when the vehicle stopped.   3. - Device according to any one of the   preceding claims, characterized in that   means for retracting the stop are timed.   4. - Device according to claims 2 and   3, characterized in that the heating means are Timed.   5. - Device according to any one of   preceding claims, the lever being articulated,   around an axis parallel to that axis, on an inter-   mediate itself articulated on the support around an axis parallel to the two previous ones, characterized in that the pusher and the retractable stop are in connection   functional with said intermediate member.   6. - Device according to claim 5,   characterized in that the pusher and the abutment   table are in operative connection with said intermediate member via a second lever articulated on the support about an axis parallel to the preceding axes, and having a clean area to come into contact with the pusher and with the stop and a   zone in contact with the intermediate member.   7. - Device according to any one of   preceding claims, characterized in that the or-   This witness is constituted by a rod slidably mounted on the support in the direction of the   component, and that the means for   primer to the rod said movement comprise a cam   rotationally rotated on itself in synchro-   nism with the output shaft of the vehicle gearbox, the rod being maintained in contact with the periphery of this cam by elastic return means.   8. Device according to any one of the   cations, characterized in that the pusher   is an elastic finger of the control organ.   9. Device according to any one of the   cations, characterized in that it comprises means for automatically retracting the pusher when the vehicle is stopped.   10. Device according to claim 9, characterized   characterized in that said means for automatically retracting   the pusher are similar to said means for   automatically retract the stop.   11. Device according to any one of the   preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means for pre-selecting several positions stop".