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i often encounter situations where i have to swop over
from a
car that has indicator levers on the left (as in Mercedes-
Benz
and Ford cars) to indicators on the right (like Honda and
Toyota). this
causes confusion often enough, and is sometimes
dangerous
(e.g. my wipers go on instead
of indicators).
my invention is simply a switch that allows a driver to
decide
for themselves which side the indicator lever
should be.
Finials
http://www.google.c...safe=images&as_st=y
[normzone, Aug 26 2009]
[link]
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if someone bones my idea, it would be nice to know
why. |
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In these days of CAN bus I can see no reason why the switches could not be configured to the drivers taste, perhaps pre-programmed as some cars already are for seat position etc. |
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Instead of printing switch functions on the levers, each could be fitted with a small LCD displaying it's current function. |
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Some cars (BMW & Honda that I'm aware of) already have a multi function knob (no - in this instance I wasn't referring to the driver). |
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perhaps the switches could come with a little icon that tells you which is which? oh, wait... |
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The autobahner, er, autoboner only rides rickshaws. |
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It's always embarrassing wanting to flash that guy who just cut you off, but have your windscreen cleaned instead. What [po] said. |
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Here's why i dislike this idea: every automatic transmission vehicle i've owned (Fords, every one) has 3 levers on the steering column. On the right, there is a dedicated gear selector, which sometimes has an Overdrive button on the end. |
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On the left, there's the wheel tilt lever, and the multifunction control lever, which operates the turn signals (I assume that's what you mean by 'indicators'), high-beams, and windshield wipers. In the single manual transmission vehicle I owned, the only thing the right-hand lever did was operate the signals. No extra knobs or buttons. |
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In order to implement this idea, it would mean adding a fully equipped multifunction control lever on each side of the steering column. For the vast majority of drivers, those who don't switch sides frequently, this would be completely wasteful, and would make shifting gears awkward, since the gear selector would be covered in a bunch of gadgets that could be accidenetally triggered when shifting gears. |
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Better to simply have the levers color-coded. You could have the turn signal lever (in those vehicles that have it on a separate knob) painted bright red. |
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perhaps the shape could be different in some way; you know big knobs for indicators and little rough knobs for wipers. perhaps the big knobs could be lit up & flash at you... |
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what a funny word - knob! have *finials* on posh cars. |
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You could have it so that the lever arm rotates around the central steering column, rotates on it's axis one hundred and eighty degrees so that it still operates in the same directions, and then lock into place.
That way all drivers can customise their car to their pleasing, and no particular brand will have a 'designated side' |
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I'm with kaz, a steering column with a mesh of bolt
holes then you can have your indicator levers where
ever you want. |
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//have *finials* on posh cars//
"Oh! Look at that fat finial driving that Bentley" |
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<aside> [21 Quest] -
They still have column shifts in your part of the world?
I can only think of 1 vehicle that I've seen for sale recently (I bought a new car in March, so I was looking around a bit) that had a column shift - a Mitsubishi Colt Plus (IIRC).
When I saw it was column shift, I thought 'ugh' and moved on.</aside>
To the idea; it would be very useful for some people (like me) to be able to customise the controls. For example, my father's work car is wipers right / indicators left, but his own car is wipers left / indicators right, and he's forever hitting the wrong thing in both cars. He got a flat battery a while ago - my theory (unproven) is that he wiped the rear window instead of turning the headlights off.
If there was some industry standard (or two - one for RHD, one for LHD) or adjustability in the settings, things like that wouldn't happen. |
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Having just had to drive a large moving truck for two days,
and having had trouble getting the wipers set, I support a
fully customizable version. (The lever was where I expected,
but the various pulls, pushes, etc all did different things
then I'm used to) |
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Wouldn't swapping individual knobs, buttons, and dials make
labelling difficult? |
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//In order to implement this idea, it would mean adding a fully equipped multifunction control lever on each side of the steering column. For the vast majority of drivers, those who don't switch sides frequently, this would be completely wasteful,// |
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Far from being wasteful, this would allow the use of identical levers on both sides. Replace the mechanical switches with strain gauge based sensors and the whole thing can be solid state with no moving parts. Once connected to the CAN bus, the rest is software. |
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Many aspects of automotive electrical systems are already heading in this direction, using mass produced PIC (programmable integrated circuits). |
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