Arrangement for obtaining an indication of efficiency of operation of a motor vehicle

Claim 1

An arrangement for obtaining an indication concerning the economy of operation of a motor vehicle, comprising a plurality of sensors for detecting different vehicle operating factors, including at least a first sensor for detecting engine speed, a second sensor for detecting distances travelled by the vehicle, and a third sensor for detecting the position of the engine throttle; means associated with each of said sensors for transmitting information corresponding to the operating factors detected by said sensors, said transmitting means including an acceleration measuring device coupled to said second sensor for determining the acceleration of the vehicle; means coupled to said transmitting means for forming operating condition values corresponding to the information provided by said transmitting means, said forming means including a first comparator which includes means for selectively fixing a first set of threshold values to provide first output signals in accordance with the engine speed detected by said first sensor, wherein said first output signals each correspond to a certain speed range determined by said first set of threshold values, a second comparator including means for selectively fixing a second set of threshold values to provide second output signals in accordance with the acceleration of the vehicle determined by said acceleration device so that said second output signals each correspond to an acceleration range determined by said second set of threshold values wherein said acceleration range is selected at least from among a set of ranges including - b<a<+b,a>b and a <-b wherein a is the vehicle acceleration and b is a certain positive value; combining means coupled to said forming means for combining and evaluating the operation condition values in accordance with a predetermined evaluation pattern wherein the combined operating condition values are rated, said combining means including a matrix for encoding said first and said second sets of output signals and the output of said third sensor into a combined code word and means for according one of a number of ratings to different groups of combined code words; and at least one signal transmitter for providing a number of signalling conditions each of which corresponds to a different group of equally rated combined code words.