Roof-Mounted Hazard Flasher Control for Faster Driver Activation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Identifying and activating the hazard warning flashers in a car's dashboard can be time-consuming and distracting for drivers in emergency situations, requiring them to divert their attention from the road.
Innovation Solution
A manual control for activating hazard warning flashers is positioned on the roof of the passenger compartment, allowing activation through a vertical downward movement, with a visible light indicator and intuitive handle for easy identification and operation without taking eyes off the road.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the hazard warning flasher control is placed on the dashboard or central tunnel, then it is easily accessible to the driver, but it requires the driver to divert attention from the road to locate and activate it
Solution Approach 1:
The control is moved from the horizontal plane of the dashboard to the vertical space of the roof, creating a new spatial dimension for control placement. This allows the driver to locate and activate the control using peripheral vision and hand movement without diverting visual attention from the road, effectively resolving the contradiction between accessibility and attention maintenance
2Ease of manufacture
If the hazard warning flasher control is placed on the dashboard or central tunnel, then it follows conventional design patterns, but it becomes difficult to identify among many other buttons and controls
Solution Approach 1:
The hazard warning flasher control is extracted from the dense cluster of dashboard buttons and relocated to the roof. This isolation eliminates the visual clutter and confusion caused by numerous controls in the conventional location, making the hazard control immediately identifiable through its unique position and distinctive triangular symbol with red backlighting
3Loss of time
If the hazard warning flasher control is placed on the roof, then it can be identified quickly without diverting attention from the road, but it deviates from conventional control placement
Solution Approach 1:
By placing the control on the roof, the patent utilizes the vertical space above the driver's head, a dimension not traditionally used for controls. This unconventional placement creates a unique, easily locatable position that stands out from the dashboard clutter, accepting design non-conformity as the necessary trade-off for rapid identification and activation
Data Source
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AI summary
A road vehicle (1) that has: a passenger compartment (4) delimited by a roof (10) at the top; at least one front seat (9) arranged in the passenger compartment (4); and a manual control (11) arranged on the roof (10) for the activation of hazard warning flashers.