Towed Vehicle Taillight Harness With Timed Strobe Alert
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle lighting systems do not provide adequate visual enhancements for towed vehicles, such as trailers, which can lead to distracted drivers failing to notice changes in the towed vehicle's operating conditions, increasing the risk of collisions.
Innovation Solution
A wiring harness that electrically couples the lighting systems of a towing vehicle with a towed vehicle, incorporating a lighting enhancement circuit that imparts a visual enhancement, such as a strobe effect, to the towed vehicle's taillights upon activation of corresponding lights in the towing vehicle, enhancing visibility and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a wiring harness with lighting enhancement circuit is added to a towed vehicle, then visibility and safety are improved through strobe effects and enhanced taillight activation, but device complexity increases due to additional connectors, conductors, and circuitry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a wiring harness as an intermediary device that couples the towing vehicle's lighting system with the towed vehicle's lighting system. This intermediary contains the lighting enhancement circuit, strobe effect generator, and conductors needed to implement the safety improvements without requiring direct modification of either vehicle's existing lighting system, thereby managing complexity through modular integration.
2Reliability
If lighting enhancement circuit is interposed between connectors, then taillight enhancement is achieved, but ease of installation decreases due to complex wiring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The wiring harness is segmented into distinct functional modules: first connector for towing vehicle interface, second connector for towed vehicle interface, lighting enhancement circuit, and strobe effect generator. This segmentation allows each component to be independently manufactured, tested, and installed, simplifying the overall installation process while maintaining the safety enhancement functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A taillight enhancement harness for providing a lighting enhancement to a taillight of a towed vehicle. The harness interconnects a first lighting system of a towing vehicle and a second lighting system of the towed vehicle. A lighting enhancement circuit is interposed between a first connector, configured to couple to the towing vehicle, and a second connector, configured to couple to the towed vehicle. The lighting enhancement circuit is configured to activate a taillight of the towed vehicle in a strobe operation. After a predetermined temporal period, the taillight resumes a normal indication operating mode for the taillight.