Having thus described my invention, what is claimed is:
1. In an automotive vehicle having a chassis which supports drive means, a passenger module, front and rear bumpers in spaced apart relationship upon a center longitudinal axis and paired front and rear wheels mounted upon axles transversely disposed to said axis, the improvement comprising connecting means interactive between said bumpers in a manner whereby force received by said front bumper in a frontal collision is transferred to said rear bumper.
2. The automotive vehicle of claim 1 wherein said connecting means comprise left and right straight rigid members elongated coextensively with said axis and equally spaced therefrom on opposite sides thereof.
3. The automotive vehicle of claim 1 wherein said connecting means are arranged to move slidably with respect to said chassis codirectionally with said axis.
4. The automotive vehicle of claim 1 wherein said passenger module is adapted to move forwardly and tilt upwardly upon the occurrence of a frontal collision.
5. The automotive vehicle of claim 1 further having an air cushion bag disposed between said passenger module and front bumper and which automatically inflates in a frontal collision.
6. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein said connecting means and bumpers constitute an assembly capable of undergoing sliding axial motion with respect to said chassis, said assembly being attached to said chassis by energy-absorbing means.
7. The vehicle of claim 6 wherein said energy-absorbing means comprise leaf springs.
8. The vehicle of claim 1 further comprised of left and right hinges attached to said front bumper and to which said left and right connecting means, respectively, are attached.
9. The vehicle of claim 8 wherein said hinges allow motion in a horizontal direction but not in a vertical direction.
10. The vehicle of claim 8 wherein said hinges are attached to said bumper in a manner which allows sliding motion relative to said bumper in a horizontal direction.
11. The vehicle of claim 8 further comprised of a stopper attached to said bumper and disposed so as to prevent said hinges from moving toward each other during a collision.
12. The vehicle of claim 8 further comprised of a front cross member of said chassis disposed orthogonally to said longitudinal axis and extending between left and right ends.
13. The vehicle of claim 12 further comprised of a first pre-stressed cable extending between said right hinge and the left end of said front cross member, and a second pre-stressed cable extending between said left hinge and the right end of said front cross member.
14. The vehicle of claim 12 further comprised of left and right hinges attached to said rear bumper, to which said left and right connecting means, respectively, are attached.
15. The vehicle of claim 3 wherein said chassis has paired tubular components which receive said connecting means in telescopically slidable relationship.
16. The vehicle of claim 6 wherein said energy-absorbing means is comprised of at least one horizontally disposed leaf spring having opposed ends equally spaced from said longitudinal axis.
17. The vehicle of claim 16 wherein said energy-absorbing means is comprised of front and rear leaf springs in spaced apart coplanar relationship in flexurally opposed disposition and interactively joined at their opposed ends.
18. The vehicle of claim 17 wherein the space between said leaf springs increases by flexural bowing action when a rearwardly directed pulling force is applied to said rear spring.
19. The vehicle of claim 18 wherein said rear leaf spring is centrally attached to said rear bumper, whereby force rearwardly imparted to said rear bumper by way of said connecting means in response to a frontal collision produces a rearward pulling action on said rear leaf spring.
20. The vehicle of claim 19 wherein said leaf springs are pre-stressed with a force of 500 to 800 pounds that urges said front and rear springs together, whereby the space between said springs will not increase until a pulling force is applied greater than said pre-stressed force.
21. The vehicle of claim 20 wherein a rubber bumper is interposed centrally between said front and rear leaf springs to prevent their contact in said pre-stressed condition.
22. The vehicle of claim 4 further comprised of a retaining hook attached to said module and interactive with said chassis, said hook being open downwardly and rearwardly so that it secures said module to said chassis during normal operation of the vehicle but, upon frontal collision, allows said module to move forwardly and tilt upwardly.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. An optical system inside a scanner for scanning a document, comprising:
a carrier box having a hollow interior and a receiving slot, wherein the receiving slot passes through an upper wall of the carrier box;
a light source located outside the carrier box capable of emitting a first beam of light towards the document to produce a reflected beam from the document, wherein the reflected light beam passes into the carrier box via the receiving slot;
a set of reflecting mirrors having at least a reflecting mirror, wherein the set of reflecting mirrors is installed inside the carrier box for receiving the first light beam and outputting a second light beam;
a circuit board mounted on a sliding structure inside the carrier box, wherein the circuit board moves linearly, the sliding structure is connected to interior walls of the carrier box, and the circuit board moves in a direction identical to a traveling direction of the second light beam;
a converging lens mounted on the circuit board for refracting the second light beam and outputting a third light beam; and
an optical sensor mounted on the circuit board for receiving the third light beam and converting an intensity of the third light beam into electrical signals.
2. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the light source includes a tubular light source.
3. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor includes a charge-coupled device.
4. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the circuit board further includes at least an imaging processor.
5. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor and the circuit board are electrically connected together.
6. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the sliding structure is a pair of extensions from the interior walls of the carrier box and the pair of extensions form a pair of guiding rails for holding sides of the circuit board.
7. The optical system of claim 1, wherein an upper perimeter of the converging lens further includes a positioning structure connected to interior walls of the carrier box and has a reference surface facing the converging lens.
8. The optical system of claim 7, wherein the positioning structure is an extension from the interior wall of the carrier box.
9. The optical system of claim 7, wherein the reference surface is either a flat or an arched surface.
10. The optical system of claim 7, wherein the converging lens is mounted on the circuit board via an elastic stand, a bottom of the elastic stand is attached to the circuit board, the elastic stand has a clamping section and a protruding section, the clamping section grips opposite perimeters of the converging lens elastically, the protruding section is propped against a bottom perimeter of the converging lens, and the upper perimeter of the converging lens leans against the reference surface.
11. The optical system of claim 10, wherein the elastic stand is made from either a plastic or a metallic material.
12. An optical system inside a scanner for scanning a document, comprising:
a carrier box having a hollow interior and a receiving slot, wherein the receiving slot passes through an upper wall of the carrier box;
a light source located outside the carrier box capable of emitting a first beam of light towards the document to produce a reflected beam from the document, wherein the reflected light beam passes into the carrier box via the receiving slot;
a set of reflecting mirrors having at least a reflecting mirror, wherein the set of reflecting mirrors is installed inside the carrier box for receiving the first light beam and outputting a second light beam even;
a flat plate mounted on a sliding structure inside the carrier box, wherein the circuit board moves linearly, the sliding structure is connected to interior walls of the carrier box, and the circuit board moves in a direction identical to the traveling direction of the second light beam;
a converging lens mounted on the flat plate for refracting the second light beam and outputting a third light beam; and
an optical sensor mounted on the flat plate for receiving the third light beam and converting intensity of the third light beam into electrical signals.
13. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the optical sensor is attached to the face of a vertical plate mounted perpendicular to the flat plate and is positioned to collect light from the converging lens.
14. The optical system of claim 13, wherein the vertical plate and the flat plate are formed together as a single component.
15. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the light source includes a tubular light source.
16. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the optical sensor includes a charge-coupled device.
17. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the sliding structure is a pair of extensions from the interior walls of the carrier box and form a pair of guiding rails for holding sides of the flat plate.
18. The optical system of claim 12, wherein an upper perimeter of the converging lens further includes a positioning structure connected to the interior walls of the carrier box and has a reference surface facing the converging lens.
19. The optical system of claim 18, wherein the positioning structure is an extension from the interior wall of the carrier box.
20. The optical system of claim 18, wherein the reference surface is either a flat or arched surface.
21. The optical system of claim 18, wherein the converging lens is mounted on the circuit board via an elastic stand, a bottom of the elastic stand is attached to the flat plate, the elastic stand has a clamping section and a protruding section, the clamping section grips opposite perimeters of the converging lens elastically and the protruding section is propped against a bottom perimeter of the converging lens and the upper perimeter of the converging lens leans against the reference surface.
22. The optical system of claim 21, wherein the elastic stand and the flat plate are formed together as a single component.
23. The optical system of clam 13, wherein the elastic stand, the vertical plate and the flat plate are formed together as a single component.
24. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the flat plate is made from either a plastic material or a metallic material.
25. The optical system of claim 21, wherein the elastic stand is made from either a plastic material or a metallic material.
26. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the optical sensor further includes a circuit board between the optical sensor and the vertical plate for holding and electrically connecting with the optical sensor.
27. The optical system of claim 26, wherein the circuit board has at least an image processor mounted thereon.
28. The optical system of claim 12, wherein the optical system further includes a circuit board mounted on a surface of the flat plate.
29. The optical system of claim 28, wherein the optical sensor and the circuit board are electrically connected.
30. The optical system of claim 28, wherein the circuit board further has at least an image processor mounted thereon.