JPH079924A - Automobile control device and ic card thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the driving under the drinking condition and the driving under the speed violation condition. CONSTITUTION:Alcohol density in the blood or in the breathing and heart rate of a driver, and travelling speed are measured by a heart rate measuring device 4, an in-blood alcohol density measuring device 5 and a speed meter 7. In the case where results of these measurement exceeds an allowable level, a CPU 1 judges the travelling under the drinking condition or under the non- healthy condition or the travelling under the speed violation condition, and the CPU 1 carries out the control for reducing the engine speed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for ensuring safe driving of a vehicle, and more particularly, it is effective when used to prevent a driver from driving a vehicle in an abnormal state such as a drunken state of the driver. It concerns a certain technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, when driving an automobile running on a public road, it is obligatory to carry a valid driver's license. The premise is that if a driver drives in compliance with the regulations stipulated by the Road Traffic Law, no traffic accident will occur.

[0003]

However, even though the driver carries a driver's license when driving and is prohibited from driving while drinking alcohol, it is actually possible to check all of them. Is almost impossible, and it is the current situation that we have to rely on the person's awareness, and there are various difficulties in eliminating traffic accidents.

Therefore, it is desired to propose some kind of checking means having the role of a third party, rather than relying on the driver's conscience. For example, under the present circumstances, it is difficult to completely eliminate traffic accidents and the like unless a control device using electronic technology is provided.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of preventing drunk driving or driving in a speeding state.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a technique which enables prevention of unlicensed driving and driving by persons other than a specific person.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, a brief description will be given to the outline of typical ones.
It is as follows.

That is, the measuring means for measuring at least one of the alcohol concentration in the driver's blood or the exhaled breath and the heart rate, and decelerating or stopping the prime mover or the electric motor when the measurement result by the measuring means exceeds an allowable level. And a control means for controlling the above.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned means, the driver's drinking and health conditions that prevent normal driving and the running speed are checked only by sitting in the driver's seat, and the drinking and health conditions are limited. Occasionally, the prime mover and the electric motor are controlled to be decelerated, and the vehicle is stopped when the drinking or health condition is at the limit. As a result, a traffic accident or the like can be prevented from occurring.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automobile controller according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the IC card according to the present invention. The present invention relates to an automobile control device mounted on a vehicle and an IC carried by a driver.
Combination of cards (in the following explanation, it also serves as a driver's license, and the face picture of the licensee is attached or printed on the surface, and necessary information such as date of birth, license date, expiration date, etc. are also stated) Functioning, the vehicle can be started by setting the IC card in the vehicle controller. The vehicle control device has a function of registering information (fingerprint or the like) for identifying the driver when purchasing the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle controller is a CP
The U1 is mainly used, and various devices and electronic parts are connected to the CPU 1 through a plurality of interfaces. That is, via the interface 2, the fingerprint reading device 3, the heart rate measuring device 4, the blood alcohol concentration measuring device 5, the breath alcohol concentration measuring device 6, and the speedometer 7 are used.
Are each connected.

The fingerprint reader 3 determines whether or not the person who is about to drive is a proper driver (for example, the owner of a private car, a designated driver of a taxi company, etc.). The sensor unit is composed of an image sensor such as a CCD and an illumination mechanism, and these are installed in the grip portion of the handle. Heart rate measuring device 4
Is a device for measuring the heart rate in order to determine whether or not the person trying to drive is healthy, and this is also provided in the steering wheel portion.

The blood alcohol concentration measuring device 5 and the breath alcohol concentration measuring device 6 are used for measuring whether or not the person is in a drinking state. The breath alcohol concentration measuring device 6 measures the alcohol concentration in the breath using an alcohol sensor installed in the center of the handle. The speedometer 7 measures the traveling speed of the automobile and is used for information for preventing speed violation.

A slot 9 for inserting an IC card is connected to the CPU 1 via an interface 8. In addition, CP via interface 10
An engine control device 11 for controlling the start / stop of the engine is connected to U1, and a display 13 for displaying a message and the like associated with the execution of the present invention is connected through an interface 12.

Further, the CPU 1 stores a fingerprint registration ROM (read only memory) 14 in which a fingerprint of a person designated as a driver is stored as data, and fingerprint data collected by the fingerprint reading device 3. A memory 15 for storing fingerprints for performing the operation is connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the IC card 16 is mainly composed of a CPU 17 (one-chip microprocessor or the like), and the CPU 17 has a nonvolatile memory 18 (ROM) in which a program is stored, data, etc. Memory 19 (RAM) for storing the data and interface 2
Each of the 0s is connected. Furthermore, the interface 20 is connected with a terminal 21 connectable to the terminal in the slot 9. The CPU 17 exchanges data with the CPU 1 in the vehicle control device of FIG. 1 and transmits various data regarding the driver to the CPU 1.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the CPU 1 determines whether the engine key has been inserted and the IC card 16 has been inserted into the slot 9 (step 301) (step 302). When each insertion is confirmed, the fingerprint already registered in the fingerprint registration ROM 14 is compared with the fingerprint registered in the IC card 16 (step 303). If they do not match as a result of the collation, the vehicle is regarded as a wrong person or a thief and the engine is not started (step 304).

On the other hand, if the fingerprints match, a display indicating that the engine can be started is displayed on the display unit 13 to prompt the driver to start the engine, and the engine start is confirmed (step 305). , The slot 9 is locked to prevent the IC card 16 from coming off (step 30).
6). Then, the heart rate, fingerprint, alcohol concentration, and running speed are measured at regular intervals (step 314) (step 307), and if any one is found to be abnormal, it is not suitable to continue driving. (Or, it is not suitable for running as it is) (step 308,
309), the throttle is controlled to decelerate the engine speed (step 310), and when the cause is other than the traveling speed, the engine is stopped so that the vehicle cannot start (step 311).

Since the fingerprint detection in step 307 does not need to be performed frequently, it may be performed, for example, at the start of running after the vehicle speed becomes zero. Although it is desirable to monitor the running speed and the heart rate in a short cycle, the alcohol concentration may be monitored only once.

As a result of each measurement in step 307, when no abnormality is found in any of the measurements (steps 308, 30)
9) The normal control (engine control according to the accelerator) is executed (step 312). Then, in the process, if there is a key-off for parking or stopping, the engine is stopped (step 311). Further, while the engine is rotating, the contents of step 307 are monitored at regular intervals.
The evaluation is performed in step 308 to determine whether it is appropriate to continue the operation.

The lock of the slot 9 is released by stopping the engine, and the IC card 16 can be removed at this point.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, since the legal speed of a road is not uniform, it is difficult to limit it to one speed value. For this reason,
It is difficult to know whether the speed of the running vehicle exceeds the legal speed of the running road. Therefore, it is also possible to measure relative approach speeds to a plurality of oncoming vehicles using ultrasonic waves or microwaves (for example, by Doppler frequency, etc.), and perform vehicle speed determination and speed control based on this.
There are two ways. In addition, the driver may perform presetting (by setting the speed limit of a traffic sign provided on the side of the road on which the vehicle is running) by dialing or the like.

Alternatively, for a highway or the like, a slot for inserting a handed card is provided, and the slot is optically read to recognize that the vehicle has entered the highway.
You should set the maximum speed limit.

Further, the prevention of drowsy driving can be detected by a decrease in the grip strength of the hand holding the steering wheel, or by detecting that the driver's upper body is tilted at a certain angle or more, and this is used for the determination. May be.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the IC card 16 has the function of a driver's license.
The driver's license may be conventional and the IC card 16 may be treated only as the second engine key.

Although an automobile is taken as an example in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention is also applied to a train, a work vehicle such as a forklift, and a construction vehicle such as a bulldozer. It is possible. Even in the case of an automobile, the drive source is not limited to the engine, and may be an internal combustion engine other than the engine or another prime mover or motor.

[0030]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.
It is as follows.

That is, the measuring means for measuring at least one of the alcohol concentration in the blood or the breath of the driver and the heart rate, and decelerating or stopping the prime mover or the electric motor when the measurement result by the measuring means exceeds an allowable level. Since a control means for controlling the above is provided, a traffic accident or the like can be prevented in advance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an embodiment of an IC card according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 Interface 3 Fingerprint Reader 4 Heart Rate Measuring Device 5 Blood Alcohol Concentration Measuring Device 6 Breath Alcohol Concentration Measuring Device 7 Velocity Meter 8 Interface 9 Slot 10 Interface 11 Engine Control Device 12 Interface 13 Display 14 Fingerprint Registration ROM 15 memory for fingerprint storage 16 IC card 17 CPU 18 non-volatile memory 19 memory 20 interface 21 terminal

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A measuring means for measuring at least one of alcohol concentration in the driver's blood or exhaled breath and a heart rate, and deceleration or stop of a prime mover or an electric motor when a measurement result by the measuring means exceeds an allowable level. And a control means for controlling the above. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising speed measuring means for measuring a traveling speed, wherein the speed is reduced when the traveling speed exceeds a legal speed. 3. The I for which data identifying a driver is registered.
2. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that permits starting of the prime mover or the electric motor on condition that the C card is attached and the key is inserted. 4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, wherein the data registered in the IC card and the data previously registered in the vehicle are added to the condition. 5. A storage unit in which fingerprint data relating to a specific driver is registered, a control unit for communicating with an automobile control device mounted on a vehicle, and a terminal for connecting to the automobile control device. An IC card, which is equipped with and is detachably attached to the vehicle control device. 6. The necessary items required as a driver's license and a facial photograph are provided on the surface.
The listed IC card.