JP2007182195A - Vehicular horn device, horn sound informing device and horn sound informing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To certainly inform a hearing-impaired person of existence of a horn sound generated from a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The horn sound informing system for informing the hearing-impaired person, i.e., a pedestrian of the horn sound generated from the vehicle has a horn device for the vehicle for producing an alarm electric wave and transmitting it by a transmission antenna when the horn sound is emitted from a horn arranged on the vehicle; and a horn sound informing device tactilely and/or visually informing the hearing-impaired person of the received effect when the alarm electric wave is received through a receiver antenna. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle horn device, a horn sound notification device, and a horn sound notification system.

  A horn (alarm) provided in an automobile is activated by a pressing operation of a horn switch attached to a steering wheel, and urges a pedestrian or the like to call attention through a horn sound generated by the horn. A healthy person who is a pedestrian knows the approach of the car that is the source of the horn sound by listening to the horn sound.

On the other hand, hearing-impaired persons, as a pedestrian side, generally hear a horn sound that calls attention from a car by amplifying with a hearing aid etc., but using a hearing aid etc. due to noise inside and outside the car Despite this, there is a risk that it will be difficult to hear horn sounds. For this reason, for example, in Patent Document 1 shown below, a frequency component of a specific life sound to be noticed that occurs in daily life such as a horn sound is detected by a PLL circuit, and the specific life sound is visually or tactilely detected. The prior art which notifies a hearing impaired person that it was detected is disclosed.
JP 2004-61932 A

  However, the prior art described above is a mechanism for detecting a frequency component contained in a horn sound generated from a horn by a PLL circuit when a horn sound is notified to a hearing impaired person. That is, the prior art described above is a form in which a horn sound (air vibration by sound waves) is used as it is. For this reason, the frequency of the horn sound is affected by the movement of the vehicle in which the horn is installed and the noise of the surrounding environment, considering that the sound wave search in water is still used outdoors. Can easily change, and there is a risk of false detection or non-detection of such horn sounds. In addition, the set value of the frequency divider, the voltage value of the VCO, etc. must be constantly adjusted in the PLL circuit, which is difficult to withstand practical use.

  The main present invention for solving the above-described problems is a vehicle whistle device for informing a hearing impaired person who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle. It is assumed that a warning radio wave is generated and transmitted from a transmitting antenna when a horn sound is generated from a horn disposed in the vehicle to a receiving device that visually informs. That is, the vehicle horn device transmits an alarm radio wave that is more resistant to noise than a sound wave and stably propagates in the air, together with the horn sound. As a result, a hearing-impaired person can reliably and tactilely and / or visually recognize the presence or absence of a horn sound by the receiving device that has received the radio wave.

  Another main present invention that solves the above-described problem is a horn sound notification device for informing a hearing impaired person who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle, wherein the horn sound is generated from the vehicle. When the alarm radio wave transmitted at this time is received via the receiving antenna, the reception is notified tactilely and / or visually to the hearing impaired person. That is, the horn sound notification device does not receive sound waves (warning sounds) whose frequency is likely to fluctuate due to noise or the like, but receives radio waves (warning waves) that are more resistant to noise than sound waves and stably propagate in the air. To do. As a result, a hearing-impaired person can reliably and tactilely and / or visually recognize the presence or absence of a horn sound by the receiving device that has received the radio wave.

  Furthermore, the other main present invention that solves the above-described problem is a horn sound notification system that notifies a pedestrian who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle, and a horn sound is emitted from a horn disposed in the vehicle. A vehicle whistle device that generates an alarm radio wave when it is generated and transmits it from a transmission antenna, and when the alarm radio wave is received via a reception antenna, the reception is notified to the hearing impaired person tactilely and / or A horn sound notification device for visually informing the user.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a horn sound notification system, a vehicle horn device, and a horn sound notification device that can reliably notify a hearing-impaired person of the presence or absence of a horn sound generated from a vehicle. .

<Application example of horn sound notification system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an application example of the “warning sound notification system” according to the present invention. The “vehicle” according to the present invention corresponds to an automobile, a bus, a motorcycle, a train, etc., but FIG. 1 illustrates the case of an automobile. Of course, the present invention should be applied promptly even to vehicles other than automobiles.

  The automobile 300 activates a horn (not shown) by a pressing operation of a horn switch 102 attached to the handle 301, and prompts a pedestrian or the like to call attention through a horn sound generated by the horn. Note that the size of the horn sound and the range in which it is transmitted are defined by the Road Traffic Law from the viewpoint of noise prevention and the like. Furthermore, when the horn sound is generated by the pressing operation of the horn switch 102, the automobile 300 transmits an alarm radio wave attached to the horn sound for the hearing impaired 400 (specified by the welfare law for the disabled). To do.

  On the other hand, a hearing-impaired person 400 who is walking on a general crossing road carries the horn sound notification device 200 to hang from his neck. The horn sound notification device 200 is a device that, when receiving a warning radio wave attached to the horn sound from the automobile 300, notifies the hearing impaired person 400 tactilely and / or visually that the reception has been received. Thus, the horn sound notification device 200 does not use a sound wave (warning sound) whose frequency is likely to fluctuate due to noise or the like, but is a radio wave (alarm wave) that is more resistant to noise than sound waves and stably propagates in the air. Can be used to reliably recognize the presence or absence of a horn sound tactilely and / or visually.

<Vehicle horn device>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle horn device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The horn switch 102 is an interface that is attached to the handle 301 of the automobile 300 and activates the horn 120 by a pressing operation by the driver.
In the microcomputer 110, an input interface 111, a memory 112, a CPU 113, and an output interface 114 are interconnected via an internal bus 115. The microcomputer 110 performs sequence control for alarm radio wave transmission according to the present invention when the horn switch 102 is pressed.
The input interface 111 is an interface for acquiring a status signal S indicating a state in which the horn switch 102 is pressed by the driver.
The memory 112 includes a horn ID that is a common identifier for each vehicle (automobile, bus, motorcycle, train, etc.), horn sound information in which the size, frequency, generation period, etc. of the horn sound are set, and the magnitude of the alarm radio wave. Alarm radio wave information in which the frequency, generation period, etc. are set is stored.

  The “alarm radio wave” according to the present invention may employ any modulation method such as AM modulation or FM modulation, but the present invention has many commercial frequencies (AM / FM radio frequency, television frequency, radio communication frequency). Etc.), it is preferable to employ FM modulation that is less susceptible to noise than AM modulation and is excellent in preventing interference. In addition, from the viewpoint of preventing interference, the alarm radio wave preferably uses a dedicated frequency excluding the commercial frequency existing in the living environment in the radio frequency band from 3 kHz to 3 THz. Therefore, in the following, the alarm radio wave information stored in the memory 112 is information based on FM modulation and a dedicated frequency.

  The CPU 113 is a processor that supervises the sequence control of the microcomputer 110 and eventually the vehicle horn device 100. In particular, the CPU 113 generates the sound source signal M having the horn sound information read from the memory 112 and the radio source signal E having the horn ID and the warning radio wave information read from the memory 112. Note that the CPU 113 generates the radio wave source signal E at intervals of a plurality of times when generating the sound source signal M once in consideration of the case where the horn sound notification device 200 cannot receive the alarm radio wave unfortunately. To.

  The output interface 114 is an interface for supplying the sound source signal M and the radio wave source signal E generated by the CPU 113 to the horn 120 and the alarm radio wave transmitter 130, respectively.

  The horn 120 is an electronic horn that generates a horn sound, and includes a DA converter 121, an amplifier 122, and a speaker 123. More specifically, the sound source signal M supplied from the microcomputer 110 is DA-converted by the DA converter 121, amplified by the amplifier 122, becomes a desired horn sound, and is output through the speaker 123.

  The alarm radio wave transmitter 130 is a transmitter that generates an alarm radio wave associated with a horn sound, and includes a DA converter 131, an amplifier 132, an oscillator 133, a modulator 134, an amplifier 135, and a transmission antenna 136. More specifically, the radio wave source signal E supplied from the microcomputer 110 is DA converted by the DA converter 131 and then amplified by the amplifier 132. The modulator 134 generates a modulated wave in which the frequency of the carrier wave oscillated and output by the oscillator 133 is changed in proportion to the output amplitude of the amplifier 132. This modulated wave is amplified to a level that can be transmitted by the amplifier 135 and transmitted from the transmission antenna 136 as an alarm radio wave.

Note that the propagation distance of the alarm radio wave is preferably limited within a predetermined range. That is, the propagation distance is set in advance so that the alarm radio wave does not reach the far-sighted person 400 (for example, about 100 m) unintended by the driver of the vehicle. In order to realize this object, the propagation loss of the alarm radio wave is set to be equal to or greater than the predetermined propagation loss at a predetermined propagation distance. Here, the free space loss L (dB) of the radio wave when there is no obstacle is
L = 20 × log (4πd / λ) (1)
Generally defined by “D” means distance, and “λ” means radio wave wavelength. Therefore, based on the equation (1), even if the alarm radio wave transmitter 130 has the same output, the propagation distance of the alarm radio wave varies depending on the frequency of the alarm radio wave, so the frequency of use of the alarm radio wave (speed of light c / λ) Accordingly, the output of the amplifier 135 of the alarm radio wave transmitter 130 is adjusted in advance so that the predetermined propagation distance (d) is equal to or greater than the predetermined propagation loss (L).

  Further, as described above, since the radio wave source signal E is supplied from the CPU 113 a plurality of times as described above, the alarm radio wave transmitter 130 transmits the alarm radio wave from the transmission antenna 136 a plurality of times in response to the generation of one horn sound. It will be.

<Warning alarm system>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a horn sound notification device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The reception antenna 201 is an antenna for receiving the alarm radio wave transmitted from the transmission antenna 136 of the vehicle horn device 100.
The RF amplifier 202, the music selection circuit 203, the local oscillator 204, and the mixing circuit 205 are so-called front-end circuits or tuners.
The RF amplifier 202 selects an alarm radio wave having a reception frequency f1 set in advance by a tuning circuit (not shown) from signals received by the reception antenna 201, and converts it to an RF signal in the RF band (radio frequency band). It is an amplifier that amplifies high frequency to convert.
The selection circuit 203 is a circuit that sets the oscillation frequency f2 of the local oscillator 204 so that the reception frequency of the alarm radio wave can be finely adjusted in consideration of maintenance in actual use.
The local oscillator 204 is an oscillator that generates an oscillation signal having an oscillation frequency f2 different from the reception frequency f1.
The mixing circuit 205 is a circuit that mixes the RF signal from the RF amplifier 202 and the oscillation signal from the local oscillator 204 to generate signals of the frequency component (f2-f1) and the frequency component (f2 + f1). Here, a signal having either one of the frequency component (f2-f1) or the frequency component (f2 + f1), that is, an IF signal (intermediate frequency signal) is extracted by a BPF (not shown).

The IF amplifier 206 is a variable gain amplifier that amplifies the IF signal to a level that allows detection.
The detection circuit 207 is a circuit that performs FM detection by converting the frequency change of the IF signal supplied from the IF amplifier 206 into an amplitude change and further performing AM detection. This FM detected signal is AD converted to the original radio wave source signal E by the AD converter 208 and supplied to the microcomputer 210. As a result, based on the radio wave source signal E, the microcomputer 210 can identify that the alarm radio wave having the desired reception frequency f1 has been received.

In the microcomputer 210, an input interface 211, a memory 212, a CPU 213, and an output interface 214 are interconnected via an internal bus 215. The microcomputer 210 performs sequence control for notifying the hearing-impaired person 400 according to the present invention of the presence or absence of a horn sound visually and / or visually when receiving the alarm radio wave.
The input interface 211 is an interface for acquiring the radio wave source signal E from the ADC 208.

  The memory 212 includes a horn ID having the same contents as the horn ID stored in the memory 112 of the vehicle whistle device 100, tactile alarm information in which the magnitude, pattern, generation period, and the like of the vibration of the vibrator 223 are set, and a display 233. The contents and display period of alarm messages (characters, images) to be displayed, or visual alarm information in which the light emission pattern of the light emitting element 235, the light emission period, and the like are set are stored.

  The CPU 213 is a processor that supervises the sequence control of the microcomputer 210 and eventually the horn sound notification device 200. In particular, the CPU 213 compares the horn ID of the radio wave source signal E with the horn ID read from the memory 212 and generates the haptic alarm source signal T having the haptic alarm information read from the memory 212. The visual alarm source signals SD and SL having the visual alarm information read from the memory 212 are generated.

  The output interface 214 is an interface for supplying the haptic alarm source signal T and the visual alarm source signals SD and SL generated by the CPU 213 to the haptic alarm reproduction system 220 and the visual alarm reproduction system 230, respectively.

  The tactile alarm reproduction system 220 is a reproduction system for tactilely informing the hearing impaired 400 that the alarm radio wave has been received. More specifically, the tactile alarm source signal T supplied from the microcomputer 210 is DA-converted by the DA converter 221 to become a desired motor drive signal, and the motor driver 222 includes the vibrator 223 using the motor drive signal. Drive the motor. As a result, the vibrator 223 performs a desired vibration for prompting the hearing impaired person 400 to call attention such as the approach of the automobile 300.

  The visual alarm reproduction system 230 is a reproduction system for visually informing the hearing impaired 400 that the alarm radio wave has been received. More specifically, the visual alarm source signal SD supplied from the microcomputer 210 is DA-converted by the DA converter 231 to become a desired display drive signal, and the display driver 232 drives the display 233 using this display drive signal. . As a result, the display 233 displays a desired display for urging the hearing impaired 400 to call attention such as the approach of the automobile 300. The visual alarm source signal SL supplied from the microcomputer 210 is DA-converted by the DA converter 234 to drive the light emitting element 235. As a result, the light emitting element 235 emits desired light for prompting the hearing impaired person 400 to call attention such as the approach of the automobile 300.

<Operation of horn sound notification system>
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the horn sound notification system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, the driver of the automobile 300 recognizes a pedestrian (deaf person 400) who is walking on a general pedestrian crossing and the like, and is attached to the handle 301 in order to prompt the pedestrian to be alerted by a horn sound. It is assumed that the horn switch 102 is pressed.
In this case, on the vehicle whistle device 100 side, the CPU 113 acquires the status signal S indicating the state where the horn switch 102 is pressed through the input interface 111 and the internal bus 115, and confirms that the horn switch 102 is pressed. Identify (S400). Then, the CPU 113 reads the horn ID, horn sound information, and alarm radio wave information from the memory 112 via the internal bus 115 (S401).

  Next, the CPU 113 generates a sound source signal M based on the horn sound information read from the memory 112 and supplies it to the horn 120 via the output interface 114. As a result, the horn 120 outputs a desired horn sound based on the sound source signal M supplied from the microcomputer 110 (S402).

  In addition to the generation of the sound source signal M, the CPU 113 generates a radio wave source signal E based on the horn ID and the alarm radio wave information read from the memory 112, and sends the radio wave source signal E to the alarm radio wave transmitter 130 via the output interface 114. And supply. As a result, the alarm radio wave transmitter 130 generates a desired alarm radio wave subjected to FM modulation based on the radio wave source signal E supplied from the microcomputer 110 (S403). In consideration of reception failure due to various factors, a predetermined number of times of alarm radio waves are transmitted (S404: YES).

  On the other hand, in the horn sound notification apparatus 200 carried by the hearing impaired person 400 who is such a pedestrian, it is assumed that the reception antenna 201 receives one alarm radio wave from the vehicle horn apparatus 100 (S405). In this case, an alarm radio wave that matches the reception frequency f1 set in advance in the music selection circuit 203 is taken into the front end circuit (RF amplifier 202, mixing circuit 205, etc.) and FM detection is performed in the detection circuit 207. As a result, the radio wave source signal E having the horn ID is restored and supplied to the CPU 213 via the input interface 211 and the internal bus 215.

The CPU 213 collates the horn ID included in the supplied radio wave source signal E with the horn ID stored in advance in the memory 212 (S406). If the horn ID is verified (S406: YES), the CPU 213 identifies that the desired alarm radio wave has been received, and reads the tactile alarm information and the visual alarm information from the memory 212 (S407). As a result of checking the horn ID in this manner, the horn ID is common to each vehicle, and thus the horn sound notification device 200 can react to an alarm radio wave from any vehicle.
Then, the CPU 213 generates a haptic alarm source signal T having the haptic alarm information read from the memory 212 and supplies it to the haptic alarm reproduction system 220. In addition to the generation of the tactile alarm source signal T, the CPU 213 generates the visual alarm information SD and SL having the visual alarm information read from the memory 212 and supplies it to the visual alarm reproduction system 230.

  As a result, in the tactile alarm reproduction system 220, the vibrator 223 is vibrated in accordance with the tactile alarm source signal T supplied from the microcomputer 210 (S408), and in the visual alarm reproduction system 230, the visual signal supplied from the microcomputer 210 is displayed. In response to the alarm source signals SD and SL, an alarm message is displayed on the display 223 and an alarm color is emitted from the light emitting element 235 (S409).

  Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above-described examples are for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed / improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

It is the figure which showed one application example of the horn sound alerting | reporting system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the horn device for vehicles which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the horn sound alerting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the horn sound alerting | reporting system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle whistle device 102 Horn switch 110, 210 Microcomputer 111, 211 Input interface 112, 212 Memory 113, 213 CPU
114, 214 Output interface 115, 215 Internal bus 120 Horn 121 DA converter 122 Amplifier 123 Speaker 130 Alarm radio wave transmitter 131 DA converter 132, 135 Amplifier 133 Oscillator 134 Modulator 136 Transmission antenna 200 Whistle sound notification device 201 Reception antenna 202 RF amplifier 203 Music selection circuit 204 Local oscillator 205 Mixing circuit 206 IF amplifier 207 Detection circuit 208 AD converter 220 Tactile alarm playback system 221 DA converter 222 Motor driver 223 Vibrator 230 Visual alarm playback system 231 DA converter 232 Display driver 233 Display 234 DA converter 235 Light emitting element 300 Car 301 Handle 400 Hearing impaired

Claims (9)

In a vehicle horn device for informing a hearing impaired person who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle,
Generates and transmits an alarm radio wave when a horn sound is generated from a horn arranged in the vehicle to a receiving device that informs the hearing-impaired person of the presence or absence of the horn sound tactilely and / or visually. A vehicle whistle device characterized by transmitting from an antenna.   The alarm sound notification system according to claim 1, wherein the alarm radio wave is an FM modulated radio wave.   3. The horn sound notification system according to claim 1, wherein the alarm radio wave is transmitted a plurality of times when the horn sound is generated once.   The horn sound notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a propagation distance of the alarm radio wave is set to be limited within a predetermined range. In a horn sound notification device for informing a hearing impaired person who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle,
When a warning radio wave transmitted when the horn sound is generated from the vehicle is received via a receiving antenna, the reception person is notified tactilely and / or visually that the reception is received. A horn sound notification device characterized by the above.   The alarm sound notification device according to claim 5, wherein the alarm radio wave is an FM modulated radio wave. When receiving the alarm signal,
A vibrator that vibrates for the tactile notification;
A display for displaying an alarm message for visual notification and / or a light emitting element for emitting an alarm color;
The horn sound notification apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by comprising: A common identifier for each vehicle is given to the alarm radio wave,
When receiving the alarm signal,
When the identifier stored in advance and the identifier given to the alarm radio wave are collated, the fact that the alarm radio wave has been received is detected tactilely and / or visually to the hearing impaired person. The bell bell notification device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the notification is performed. In a horn sound notification system for informing a hearing impaired person who is a pedestrian of a horn sound generated from a vehicle,
A vehicle horn device that generates an alarm radio wave and transmits it from a transmission antenna when a horn sound is generated from a horn disposed in the vehicle,
When the alarm radio wave is received via a receiving antenna, a horn sound notification device for tactilely and / or visually notifying the hearing-impaired person of the reception,
A horn sound notification system characterized by comprising:

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