JPH06160521A - Safety device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an accident by detecting another vehicle in a dead zone range. CONSTITUTION:Ultrasonic waves are radiated from the transmitter 4 of a detector 3 toward the dead zone of a vehicle. Reflected ultrasonic waves from another vehicle are detected by a receiver 5, and the lighting of winker lamps 12a, 12b is detected. The signal to operate a driving circuit 9 is generated from a signal processing section 8 based on both of them, and a buzzer 10 and a lamp 11 are driven by the driving circuit 9 to give an alarm to a driver.

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 safety when a vehicle is running, and more particularly to a technique effectively used for preventing a contact accident with a traveling vehicle within a blind spot while driving an automobile. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automobile, for example, a four-wheeled automobile, has been equipped with a side mirror and a rearview mirror for confirming a vehicle such as a vehicle running in the rear or in the side. By doing so, consideration is given to prevent accidents such as collisions.

By the way, in automobiles, in addition to the equipment provided as standard equipment, various measures have been considered or put into practical use in order to prevent object accidents and personal accidents. For example, a voice warning device for backing or turning right / left, a drowsiness prevention device, a monitor TV for backward confirmation,
There is an abnormal approach warning device linked to an ultrasonic range finder.

[0004]

According to the study by the present inventor, an automobile has a range (so-called blind spot) that cannot be visually recognized from the driver's seat due to the structure of the vehicle. Has made the rearview mirror horizontally long and has a convex mirror surface, and no complete measures against blind spots have been taken. For this reason, if a vehicle that is difficult to see, such as a motorcycle or a motorized bicycle (hereinafter referred to as a motorcycle), is running side by side at the blind spot, make a left turn while overlooking it and cause an accident. was there.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of detecting the presence of another vehicle in a blind spot and preventing an accident in advance.

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.

[0007]

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, a vehicle detection means for irradiating a beam for exploration toward a blind spot of the vehicle and detecting a reflected beam from another vehicle at that time, and a detection output by the vehicle detection means and a driving state are used. And a processing means for issuing an alarm.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned means, the vehicle is searched for the blind spot range in conjunction with the driving state such as the turn-on of the blinker and the operation of the large steering wheel, and the warning is issued when the vehicle is detected, so that the possibility of collision may occur. To make the driver aware. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contact accidents and collision accidents when changing routes.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle safety device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing how a four-wheeled vehicle and a motorcycle run side by side.

As shown in FIG. 2, on a road with a relatively wide road, two or more vehicles such as a four-wheeled vehicle 1 (vehicle) such as a passenger car and another vehicle such as a motorcycle 2 are lined up. There is a case to drive in the state. In such a case, the side mirrors can only see a certain angular range in the lateral direction, and the rearview mirror can only see a comparatively narrow rear range. In addition, due to the structure of the automobile, it is not possible to see a portion whose view is obstructed by the window frame portion and the roof supporting portion.

If a moving object having a small volume such as a motorcycle 2 is contained in the blind spot, the driver of the four-wheeled vehicle 1 may overlook the motorcycle 2. When the four-wheeled vehicle 1 makes a left turn in this state, the driver of the motorcycle 2 has difficulty in avoiding the four-wheeled vehicle 1, there is a high possibility of collision, and it is difficult to avoid personal injury. Here, a left turn is taken as an example, but an accident is similarly likely to occur when the motorcycle 2 is chasing the right side in addition to the right turn, or when the vehicle suddenly stops.

Therefore, in the present invention, a detector 3 for detecting another vehicle such as a motorcycle traveling in a blind spot by using ultrasonic waves or the like with respect to the four-wheeled vehicle 1 which is likely to be in the position of a perpetrator. (Vehicle detection means) is provided to issue a warning to the driver of the four-wheeled vehicle 1. Detector 3
Should be mounted on the side walls of the vehicle near the left and right side mirrors or near the rear wheels.

As shown in FIG. 1, the detector 3 comprises a wave transmitter 4 and a wave receiver 5 in the ultrasonic range (both can use, for example, a ceramic piezoelectric vibrator), both of which are provided. Although it is configured integrally, it is acoustically shielded so that ultrasonic waves do not directly leak from the wave transmitter 4 to the wave receiver 5. An oscillator 6 that generates a voltage having a frequency other than the audible frequency range (for example, around 40 KHz) is connected to the wave transmitter 4.

In the wave receiver 5, the reflected ultrasonic waves from the motorcycle 2 which is the object to be detected are received and converted into electric signals. Since the output voltage of the wave receiver 5 is weak,
An amplifier 7 is connected to the wave receiver 5 to amplify it to a predetermined level. A signal processing unit 8 (processing means) is connected to the amplifier 7, and a drive circuit 9 is connected to the signal processing unit 8 to drive the buzzer 10 and the lamp 11.

The signal processing unit 8 is configured to include, for example, a circuit for setting a threshold value, a circuit for outputting a signal for driving the drive circuit 9 when there is an input signal equal to or more than the threshold value, and the like. . For example, a combination of a Schmitt circuit and a one-shot multivibrator that operates at its output (or a combination of a Schmitt circuit, a flip-flop, and a reset circuit) can be used.

Further, the drive circuit 9 includes an oscillation circuit which starts low frequency oscillation (for example, 1 KHz) by the output signal of the signal processing section 8 and a power amplifier which drives the buzzer 10 by the oscillation output thereof, and the buzzer 10 and It is configured to include a power switching circuit for driving the lamps 11 simultaneously or individually.

It should be noted that the buzzer 10 and the lamp 11 do not need to issue an alarm even if another vehicle is in the blind spot if the course is not changed. Therefore, the ON signal of the winker 12 is taken into the signal processing unit 8, and this is set as a condition for whether or not the signal processing unit 8 can output.

When the car changes its course, the turn signal is always emitted, so the turn signal lamp 12a
The applied voltage (+ 12V in the case of a 12V battery car) when (or 12b) is turned on by turning on the turn signal switch 13 is taken out via the diodes 14a and 14b (for preventing simultaneous lighting on the left and right), and turned on.
It may be output as a signal to the signal processing unit 8. Note that FIG.
In FIG. 1, the turn signal lamps are shown only for each of the left and right (R, L) lights, and the others are omitted, but in reality, a plurality of lights are connected to each of the left and right.

In the above structure, the driver of the four-wheeled vehicle 1 turns on the power of the device shown in FIG. 1 while traveling. The transmitter 4 is excited by the output of the oscillator 6 and the power of 10 KHz
Ultrasonic waves with a frequency of several tens of KHz are radiated toward the air set as the blind spot. At this time, if there is a vehicle such as a motorcycle 2 in the ultrasonic wave radiation region of the transmitter 4, the ultrasonic wave is reflected on the surface thereof.

The ultrasonic waves reflected from the motorcycle 2 are received by the receiver 5.
Is received, and an electric signal corresponding to the received energy is output from the wave receiver 5. The output signal of the wave receiver 5 is amplified to a required level by the amplifier 7, and if the amplified output is at a certain level or higher than when there is no signal and the turn signal ON signal is at the "H" level (+ 12V),
An output signal is emitted from the signal processing unit 8. Signal processing unit 8
When an output signal is output from the drive circuit 9, the drive circuit 9 starts operating and drives the buzzer 10 to emit an alarm sound. At the same time, the lamp 11 blinks (or continuously lights).

As a result, the driver can know that there is a vehicle such as the motorcycle 2 within the blind spot, and can safely change the lane and the course (turn right or left) in consideration of the motorcycle 2. Accidents can be avoided in advance.

Since the transmitter / receiver is directional, it may not be possible to cover all the blind spots. In such a case, a plurality of sets of wave transmitters / receivers may be provided and the detection areas may be arranged so as to be displaced. Alternatively, one set of transmitters / receivers may be used to swing the transmitting / receiving beam.

In the above embodiment, the applied voltage of the turn signal lamps 12a and 12b is taken in to set the operating condition of the signal processing unit 8. However, since the steering wheel operation is always required when changing the lane or the course, this rotation Amounts can also be used. That is, the rotation amount detector may be attached to the handle, and the “output enabled” of the signal processing unit 8 may be determined when the handle is operated at a certain angle or more.

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

For example, although ultrasonic waves are used as the beam medium for transmitting and receiving waves in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use, for example, infrared rays or microwaves. .

The signal processing unit 8 can be replaced with, for example, a one-chip microcomputer. In this case, in addition to driving the buzzer 10 and the lamp 11, a warning display in characters can be easily displayed.

Further, the present invention can be widely applied to general vehicles in addition to so-called automobiles.

[0029]

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 vehicle detection means for irradiating the beam for exploration toward the blind spot of the vehicle and detecting the reflected beam from another vehicle at that time, and the detection output by the vehicle detection means and the driving state are used. Since a processing means for issuing an alarm is provided, it is possible to prevent a contact accident or a collision accident when the course is changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing how a four-wheeled vehicle and a motorcycle run side by side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Four-wheeled vehicle (vehicle) 2 Motorcycle (other vehicle) 3 Detector (vehicle detection means) 4 Transmitter 5 Wave receiver 6 Oscillator 7 Amplifier 8 Signal processing unit (processing means) 9 Driving circuit 10 Buzzer 11 Lamp 12a , 12b Turn signal lamp 13 Turn signal switch 14a, 14b Diode

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle detection means for irradiating a beam for exploration toward a blind spot of a vehicle and detecting a reflected beam from another vehicle at that time, and a detection output by the vehicle detection means and a driving state. And a processing unit for issuing an alarm. 2. The vehicle detection means includes a wave transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave, an oscillator for exciting the wave transmitter, and an ultrasonic wave emitted from the wave transmitter and reflected by the other vehicle or the like. The vehicle safety device according to claim 1, further comprising: a wave receiver that receives and converts the electric signal into an electric signal. 3. The vehicle safety device according to claim 1, wherein the driving state is a case where the turn signal is in a left turn instruction state or a right turn instruction state. 4. The vehicle safety device according to claim 1, wherein the driving state is a steering wheel operation to the right or to the left. 5. The vehicle safety device according to claim 1, wherein the beam is an infrared ray or a microwave.