JP2785234B2 - Obstacle warning device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an obstacle warning device, and more particularly to an obstacle warning device for warning the presence of an obstacle within a predetermined range around a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an obstacle such as a person or an object exists in a predetermined range around a vehicle such as an automobile, an obstacle warning device for warning the presence of the obstacle is provided mainly by an ultrasonic sensor or the like at the rear of the vehicle. Conventionally, there has been used a device which provides an obstacle detecting means and issues a warning by an acoustic device such as a buzzer when the obstacle detecting means detects an obstacle. According to this device, it is possible to warn about the existence of an obstacle within a predetermined distance behind the vehicle, but it is not possible to detect the existence of an obstacle in front of or on the side of the vehicle, There is a disadvantage that the position where the obstacle exists cannot be displayed.

Therefore, the present applicant detects an obstacle existing in front of or on the side of the vehicle, and replaces one part of the display part provided from the front of the seat in the vehicle interior to the side with another part. A vehicle obstacle display device has been proposed in which an obstacle presence display around the vehicle is displayed by making a visual change in a different manner (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-138643).

[0004]

The obstacle display device proposed by the present applicant has an excellent effect in that the position of the obstacle can be visually confirmed very easily. However, when attention is not paid to the visual display section of the obstacle display device, it is difficult to confirm the presence of the obstacle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described drawbacks of the conventional obstacle warning device, and it is possible to quickly and reliably detect the presence of an obstacle even when the occupant is not paying attention to the obstacle warning device. And an obstacle warning device that can perceive the position of the obstacle.

[0006]

An obstacle warning device according to the present invention detects an obstacle within a predetermined range around a vehicle and outputs a signal corresponding to the position of the obstacle. Means, an audio device attached to the vehicle for generating an audio signal, an audio signal processing unit including a central control circuit connected to the audio device and processing the audio signal, and an output signal of the obstacle detection unit. and sound control means for outputting a control signal in response, D to the audio signal processing means
A plurality of loudspeakers connected via an A / A converter and arranged in the vehicle interior, wherein the acoustic signal processing means controls the acoustic signal in accordance with a control signal from the acoustic control means, and generates the sound signal from the loudspeaker. The sound image of the sound to be localized is located at the position where the obstacle exists.

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

In the obstacle warning device of the present invention, when the obstacle detecting means (1) detects the presence of an obstacle within a predetermined range around the vehicle, it outputs a signal corresponding to the position of the obstacle. sound outputting a signal for controlling the sound in response to the signal
Audio control means (3) and an audio
The sound signal processing means (2a) connected to the
Input the signal of the sound control means (3) and
The sound image of the sound generated from the audio device is
Is located at the position where exists. Therefore, the occupant O
Observation of obstacles while listening to music from audio equipment
, So it is easy to avoid obstacles in advance
Becomes

The sound control means (3) determines a sound phase relationship or a sound pressure level in accordance with the direction of the obstacle.
Along with the distance corresponding to the obstacle
Since the frequency characteristics or the sound pattern of the sound is changed, the occupant can hear the sound from the audio device while obstructing the sound.
It is possible to perceive the distance between the direction in which the object exists and the obstacle.

[0011]

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an obstacle warning device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the obstacle sensors 11a to 11d and the speakers 12s to 12s of the embodiment of FIG.
It is a top view which shows the arrangement | positioning position of 12x.

In FIG. 2 and FIG.
a to 11d are provided at the four corners of the front end and the rear end of the vehicle 10, transmit an ultrasonic wave, receive a reflected signal from the obstacle 14, and set a time difference between the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave. Outputs a proportional signal. The output terminals of the obstacle sensors 11a to 11d are connected to the input side of an obstacle position detection circuit 11e that performs a predetermined operation on the output signals of the obstacle sensors 11a to 11d and outputs a signal corresponding to the position of the obstacle. Have been. The obstacle sensors 11a to 11d and the obstacle position detection circuit 11e constitute an obstacle detection unit 11.

The output of the obstacle position detection circuit 11e is acoustic.
The output side of the audio control circuit 13 is connected to the input side of the control circuit 13 and the audio signal processing unit connected to the audio equipment.
It is composed of a stage (2a) and speakers 12s to 12x.
Connected to the input side of the central control circuit 12e of the audio device 12.
Have been. The audio signal processing means (2a) is an audio device
Input terminal 12a from the device, audio signal from audio equipment
If the signal is an analog signal, convert it to a digital signal A /
D converter 12d, central control circuit 12e, delay data
Generated from the memory 12f and the speakers 12s to 12x
A balancer 12i for controlling the position of the sound image of the sound
12j.

An input terminal 12 of an audio device 12 to which an audio signal from an audio source such as a magnetic tape, a CD, and a radio is inputted.
The input side of the amplifier 12b is connected to a. The output side of the amplifier 12b is connected to the input side of a sound quality adjustment circuit 12c for adjusting the frequency characteristics of the high frequency range and the low frequency range of the acoustic signal. The output side of the sound quality adjustment circuit 12c is connected to the input side of an A / D converter 12d that converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The output side of the A / D converter 12d is connected to the input side of the central control circuit 12e.

The central control circuit 12e has a delay program for temporarily storing the input signal in the delay data memory 12f and reading it out after a time specified by the output signal of the acoustic control circuit 13 for a considerable time. It has been incorporated.

The output side of the central control circuit 12e is connected to the input side of a D / A converter 12g for converting a digital signal into an analog signal. The output side of the D / A converter 12g is connected to the input terminal of a volume control volume 12h, and the output terminal of the volume 12h is connected to the input terminal of a balancer 12i composed of a sliding resistor for moving the sound image right and left. It is connected. An output terminal of the balancer 12i is connected to an input terminal of a fader 12j for moving a sound image back and forth. The output terminal of the fader 12j is
m, 12n, 12q, 12r and a band-pass filter (BP
F) It is connected to each input side of 12k and 12l. The output side of the bandpass filter 12k is connected to the input side of the amplifier 12o,
The output side of the band-pass filter 121 is connected to the input side of the amplifier 12p. The output side of the amplifier 12m is the input terminal of the speaker 12s, the output side of the amplifier 12n is the input terminal of the speaker 12t, the output side of the amplifier 12o is the input terminal of the speaker 12u, and the output side of the amplifier 12p is the input terminal of the speaker 12v. The output side of the amplifier 12q is connected to the input terminal of the speaker 12w, and the output side of the amplifier 12r is connected to the input terminal of the speaker 12x.

As shown in FIG. 3, the speaker 12s is located inside the front of the left door of the vehicle 10, and the speaker 12t is located inside the vehicle 10.
The speakers 12u, v are mounted on the dashboard, and the speakers 12w, x are mounted on the left and right portions of the rear tray, respectively. Speaker 12
u and v are the speakers 12 without these speakers.
Since s and t are installed at the lower positions of the left and right doors, the sound image in front is localized at the lower position.
It plays back only the middle-band sound, uses the sound as a localization signal, and moves the sound image to a higher position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

Assume that the obstacle 14 exists within a predetermined range from the vehicle 10 in the left front direction of the vehicle 10 as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

When the obstacle sensor 11a receives the reflected wave from the obstacle 14 and inputs a voltage proportional to the received reflected wave to the obstacle position detecting circuit 11e, the obstacle position detecting circuit 11e From the reflected wave input from the object sensor 11a, a signal indicating the position of the obstacle 14 and a signal proportional to the time difference between the time when the received reflected wave was transmitted and the time when the reflected wave was received are input to the acoustic control circuit 13. I do. In the sound control circuit 13, the speaker 12 is positioned at the position of the obstacle 14 by a signal input from the obstacle position detection circuit 11e.
A control signal for localizing the sound image reproduced by s to 12x is input to the central control circuit 12e of the sound generator 12. The central control circuit 12e temporarily writes the musical sound input from the input terminal 12a to the delay data memory 12f so that the sound image formed by the reproduced sound from each of the speakers 12s to 12x is localized in the direction in which the obstacle 14 exists. The timing at which the tone data to be output to each of the speakers 12s to 12x is read from the delay data memory is controlled. That is, the speaker 1 located at a position near the obstacle 14
The tone reproduced by the other speakers 12t to 12x except for the 2s is reproduced with a relative delay from the tone reproduced from the speaker 12s so that the sound images formed by all the speakers 12s to 12x coincide with the position of the obstacle 14. I do. The tone data read from the delay data memory 12f by the central control circuit 12e is converted into an analog signal by a D / A converter 12g, and the volume 12h, the balancer 12i, the fader 12j, the bandpass filters 12k and 12l, and each amplifier. 12m
The sound is reproduced on the speakers 12s to 12x via the speakers 12s to 12x.

In this embodiment, the input terminal 12
The direction of the obstacle 14 is warned by changing the localization of the normal tone signal input from the a.
A transmitting circuit is provided as a part of the central control circuit 12e without using a music source such as a magnetic tape or a CD, and a warning sound is generated by the transmitting circuit, and the direction of the obstacle 14 is perceived based on the direction of the warning sound. You may make it confuse. In addition, the sound pattern of the warning sound is
, The distance of the obstacle 14 from the vehicle 10 may be perceived. Further, the distance from the vehicle 10 to the obstacle 14 may be perceived by adding an initial reflection sound to the sound from the transmission circuit.

Further, instead of providing the delay program in the central control circuit 12e, the sound image may be localized by changing the sound pressure level of the reproduced sound. In this case, the delay data memory 12f can be omitted.

Further, the frequency of the warning sound transmitted from the transmission circuit is set to 1 kHz to 4 kHz to which human hearing is sensitive.
The music source may be superimposed on the musical sound input from the music source and reproduced from a speaker near the obstacle position, or the music source may be cut off and only the warning sound from the transmission circuit may be reproduced.

If, instead of localizing the sound image of the warning sound in the direction in which the obstacle 14 is located by the delay operation or the operation of the sound pressure level by the central control circuit 12e, for example, if an obstacle is present on the right front, " The sound direction of the obstacle and the sound pattern of the warning sound are stored in memory so that a warning sound of "B" is emitted and a warning sound of "Pip" is emitted if an obstacle exists in the rear left. In addition, the sound pattern of the warning sound may be read from the memory in correspondence with the direction in which the obstacle exists, and a warning may be issued.

As shown in FIG. 4, for example, when an obstacle 14 such as a motorcycle exists behind and to the left of the vehicle 10, and when the vehicle 10 is running at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, the driver moves backward. As you can see on the left side mirror S,
The sound image of the warning sound may be localized in the side mirror S direction instead of being localized at the position where the obstacle 14 is present. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a light-emitting indicator S1 may be provided above the side mirror S at this time so that the side mirror S is visually alerted.

It should be noted that the speaker arrangement of the present invention is not limited to the positions and numbers of the above embodiments, but may be any arrangement and number that can indicate the direction of the sound image of the warning sound.

Further, a plurality of the above warning methods may be used in combination.

[0030]

[Effect] The obstacle warning device of the present invention is an audio device.
Signal processing means having a central control circuit
Control signal according to the output signal of the obstacle detection means
Obstacles acoustic sound generated from spin over mosquito more controlled and
The driver is located in the position where
While listening to the sound such as music from audio equipment.
Can recognize the presence of obstacles early and avoid obstacles
Uses existing on-board audio equipment for effective obstacle warning devices
Can be obtained. In addition, combined with a visual display
By adding a buzzer or other alarm sound generator
Can be used as an emergency alarm device
The existence of obstacles can be recognized more reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an arrangement of an obstacle sensor and a speaker of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state of sound image localization according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a front portion of a vehicle equipped with a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,11 Obstacle detection means 2,12 Sound device(Acoustic signal processing means)  3, 13 sound control means 10 vehicle 12e central control circuit 12s to 12x speaker

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Jun Koizumi 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Prefecture Honda Technical Research Institute Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-56-135351 (JP, A) JP-A-Hei 4-221246 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 63-16392 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Hei 5-40467 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/00 620

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An obstacle detecting means for detecting an obstacle in a predetermined range around a vehicle and outputting a signal corresponding to a position where the obstacle exists, and generating an acoustic signal attached to the vehicle. Audio equipment, audio signal processing means having a central control circuit connected to the audio equipment and processing the audio signal, audio control means for outputting a control signal according to the output signal of the obstacle detection means, A plurality of speakers connected to the sound signal processing means via a D / A converter and arranged in the vehicle interior, wherein the sound signal processing means controls the sound signal according to a control signal from the sound control means; A sound image of a sound generated from the speaker is localized at a position where the obstacle exists.