Plow Blade Color-Coded Lighting for Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Snow plow blades and other vehicular attachments extending beyond the vehicle's width pose visibility challenges, especially in adverse weather conditions, leading to safety hazards due to unclear identification of blade edges and orientation, which existing solutions fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of high-luminosity indicating lamps positioned along the plow blade or attached equipment, using distinct colors to clearly indicate the front and rear orientation and edges, ensuring visibility from appropriate directions while withstanding harsh conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If plow blades extend beyond the vehicle width to clear multiple lanes, then snow removal efficiency is improved, but visibility of blade edges and orientation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color-coded lighting to indicate different aspects of plow blade orientation and position. Red lights indicate the rear edge of the blade, yellow lights indicate the front edge, and green lights indicate the side edges. This color-coding system allows drivers to quickly understand plow orientation and clearance requirements without needing to visually assess the physical blade structure, thereby maintaining high productivity while solving visibility issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary lighting system that mediates between the plow blade physical structure and the observing driver. Instead of relying on direct visual detection of the blade edges, the lighting system acts as an intermediary that translates blade position and orientation into easily interpretable visual signals, enabling accurate perception of blade extent and orientation even when the blade itself is not clearly visible.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If reflective devices are used to indicate plow position, then visibility is improved under external light, but reliability deteriorates due to obscuration by dirt, snow, and ice
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces passive reflective mechanical devices with active electronic lighting systems. Instead of relying on reflective surfaces that passively bounce external light, the system uses active LED lights that generate their own illumination. This substitution eliminates the reliability issue of obscuration by dirt, snow, and ice, as the active lights remain visible regardless of surface contamination, while maintaining improved visibility of plow position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of visibility from passive reflection to active emission. By transitioning from reflective devices that depend on external light sources to self-luminous LED indicators, the system maintains consistent visibility under all weather conditions. The active lighting parameter ensures reliable indication of plow position regardless of environmental factors that would obscure reflective surfaces.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If lights are mounted on plow whiskers or exposed surfaces, then visibility of plow position is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to dislodgement under harsh conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates lighting devices directly into the plow blade structure during manufacturing, rather than mounting them separately on whiskers or exposed surfaces. This preliminary integration ensures that the lights are permanently secured as part of the blade assembly, eliminating the risk of dislodgement under harsh snow removal conditions while maintaining visibility improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the lighting system with the plow blade structure itself, creating an integrated assembly where the lights become an inherent part of the blade. This merging eliminates separate mounting components that could fail or become dislodged, ensuring reliable light positioning stability while maintaining the visibility benefits of illuminated plow indicators.
4Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If conventional lighting is used to indicate plow edges, then visibility is improved, but information completeness deteriorates due to lack of directional indication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color-coded lighting to convey different aspects of plow orientation information. Red lights indicate the rear edge, yellow lights indicate the front edge, and green lights indicate the side edges. This color-coding system provides complete directional information, allowing drivers to understand not only the position but also the orientation and facing direction of the plow blade, thereby preventing information loss about plow direction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the lighting system into multiple independently colored lights positioned at different locations on the plow blade. Each colored light segment provides specific orientation information: red for rear, yellow for front, green for sides. This segmentation allows the system to convey complete directional and orientational information that cannot be provided by a single conventional light source.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances driver and pedestrian safety by providing clear and unambiguous visibility of plow blade extensions and orientations, reducing the risk of accidents by indicating potential travel paths and obstructing edges, even in adverse weather.
Implementation Method 1
a first indicating lamp that is coupled to the plow blade and is energizable to emit light of a first color in the rearward direction
Data Source
AI summary
A plow blade has a moldboard shaped with a concave front contact surface that faces a forward direction and has a convex rear frame surface that faces an opposite rearward direction, wherein the rear frame surface has a supporting frame with one or more supporting frame members that extend in the rearward direction. A first indicating lamp is coupled to the plow blade and is energizable to emit light of a first color in the rearward direction, wherein the energized first indicating lamp is concealed from visibility from the forward direction. A second indicating lamp is coupled to the plow blade, energizable to emit light of a second color, and visible from the forward direction.