JPH06214026A - Own vehicle speed control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure safe inter-vehicle distance by controlling speed through the detection of the relative relation between the own vehicle state and the other vehicle state during travel. CONSTITUTION:An own vehicle state detector 1 is driven by the control signal 6 of a detection control signal generator 2 so as to detect the speed in the traveling state of the own vehicle and to send this speed to a judging element 4. An other-vehicle state detector 3 is also driven by the signal 6 so as to detect the inter-vehicle distance to the other vehicle and the speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle and to send them to the judging element 4. The judging element 4 computes using the speed of the own vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance and the speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. In the case of exceeding the previously integrated limit relation, that is, the criterion of the inter-vehicle distance and speed, a speed controller 5 is driven in the direction of making the inter-vehicle distance safe. During travel, the speed is thereby controlled so as not to fall in the dangerous inter- vehicle distance and speed relation. Safe driving can be thereby performed at all times.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for controlling the speed of a vehicle by detecting the relative relationship between the situation of the vehicle during traveling and the situation of another vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Taking a conventional vehicle as an example, a relative relationship between the condition of the own vehicle and the condition of another vehicle during traveling is detected to control the speed of the own vehicle to secure a safe inter-vehicle distance. There is no device yet. Therefore, there are the following inconveniences. Depending on how familiar the driver is when driving, the relationship between the speed of the other vehicle and the vehicle and the distance between the two vehicles may be compromised, and it may not be possible to catch up during sudden braking and a rear-end collision may occur. This is because there is no such thing as the own vehicle speed control device here and the processing is performed only by the judgment of the person.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the inconveniences associated with driving conventional automobiles and the like. The present invention provides a device that detects the relative relationship between the situation of the own vehicle and the situation of another vehicle during traveling and performs speed control so as to secure a safe inter-vehicle distance.

[0004]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration example of the other vehicle status detector in FIG. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIGS. 1 and 2. 4 is shown in FIG.
In addition to the above embodiment, a judgment device is provided with the relationship between the inter-vehicle distance and the speed according to the condition of the road surface, and the judgment switch can select the relationship. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the changeover switch of FIG. 4 is changed over by the output of the sensor. In FIG. 1, it comprises a vehicle condition detector 1, a detection control signal generator 2, another vehicle condition detector 3, a judging device 4 and a speed controller 5.

[0005]

Since the present invention has the above-described structure, the vehicle condition detector 1 detects the speed of the vehicle in the running state. still,
Since the vehicle condition detector 1 is already equipped with means for obtaining the rotation speed of the wheel shaft and the input signal to the speedometer itself, this can be applied. The other vehicle status detector 3 detects the inter-vehicle distance to the other vehicle and the speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. The judging device 4 makes a calculation judgment based on the detection outputs of both, and the speed controller 5 is driven by the result. Further, when the host vehicle is stopped, it may be determined that the speed control need not be performed. In the running state of the own vehicle, the speed difference of the own vehicle, the speed difference of the other vehicle, and the inter-vehicle distance are detected, and the built-in limit relationship (inter-vehicle distance, speed determination criteria or simply determination criteria) Judgment device 4 when exceeding
The output from drives the speed controller 5 so as to secure the inter-vehicle distance safely. The detection control signal generator 2 generates a control signal for performing detection and arithmetic determination at appropriate time intervals to drive the own vehicle situation detector 1, the other vehicle situation detector 3, and the decision device 4. As described above, the speed control according to the situation of the other vehicle is performed to secure the inter-vehicle distance, so that the conventional inconvenience is solved.

[0006]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. In FIG. 1, a vehicle condition detector 1 is a detection control signal generator 2
Driven by the control signal 6 according to, the vehicle speed is also detected in the traveling state whether the host vehicle is in the stopped state or in the traveling state. The detection result is sent to the determiner 4. The other vehicle status detector 3 detects the inter-vehicle distance to the other vehicle and the speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. This is also driven by the control signal 6 from the detection control signal generator 2. Other vehicle status detector 3
Is configured, for example, within a dotted line frame 30 in FIG. FIG. 3 illustrates the operation. In synchronization with the control signal 6 by the detection control signal generator 2, the detection original signal wave emitter 31 for another vehicle emits the detection original signal wave toward the other vehicle, and the reflected wave returns from the other vehicle. Reflected wave detector 3
Phase difference detector 3 between the original signal wave for detection and the reflected wave
3, the phase difference output 36 is obtained. This phase difference corresponds to the inter-vehicle distance. This is the phase difference P1, P2, P3 at times T1, T2, T3 in FIG. Phase difference differentiator 34
Compares (takes a difference) the phase difference at different times. When the differential output of the phase difference is zero (P1 = P2), it means that there is no speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. The differential output 37 of the phase difference is the speed difference between the own vehicle and another vehicle. Since P3 is different from P2, there is a speed difference. In this way, the other vehicle status detector 3 detects the inter-vehicle distance to the other vehicle and the speed difference between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. Ultrasonic waves, infrared rays, etc. are used as the signal waves for detection, and elements such as ultrasonic wave oscillators, light emitting diodes, and laser elements are used. Examples of the receiving element include a piezo element and a phototransistor. Judge 4
Then, it is good to judge that speed control is not necessary when the host vehicle is stopped. For the calculation, the speed of the own vehicle and the distance between the vehicles (phase difference output 36) and the speed difference between the own vehicle and another vehicle (phase difference differential output 3
I am using 7). When the preliminarily incorporated limit relationship is exceeded, the speed controller is driven in a direction that makes the inter-vehicle distance safe. As for the relationship of the previously incorporated limits, it is more realistic to prepare different judgment criteria depending on whether the road surface is dry, wet with rain, etc., or snow or ice. . As shown in FIG. 4, when the changeover switch is used to select this judgment standard, and as shown in FIG. 5, a sensor (for example, a water sensor, a snow sensor, etc.) that senses the external situation is provided, and the sensor output is used as the judgment standard. There is a way to choose.
In FIG. 4, 41 is a changeover switch,
A criterion 40 (for example, the relationships A, B, and C in three cases as described above) in the determiner 4 is selected. In FIG.
Reference numeral 52 is a sensor that senses an external situation. With this sense output 53, the changeover switch 51 is changed over to select the criterion 40. In this way, a safe inter-vehicle distance is secured, and the uncertainty of human judgment can be compensated. It is also possible to attach a switch for selecting whether or not to perform speed control so as to secure a vehicle-to-vehicle distance safely. Of course, in order to ensure safety, fail-safe design, status display, and alarm equipment are natural. Further, it may be considered that the detection control signal generator 2 generates a clock pulse having an appropriate time interval for detection. The speed controller 5 refers to a device related to the accelerator and can change the speed. Of course, the calculation of the determiner 4 also needs to deal with the case where there is no reflected wave from another vehicle. The present invention does not hinder the present invention by providing the vehicle speed control device with auxiliary means such as manually suspending the operation and selecting the operation mode. Throughout the drawings, the same parts are represented by the same numbers as much as possible.

[0007]

The present invention has the above-described structure and operation, and overcomes the inconveniences of conventional vehicles such as automobiles. When driving, the speed is controlled so that there is no dangerous relationship between the distance between vehicles and the speed, so safe driving is possible at all times.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle speed control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of another vehicle status detector 3 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle speed control device provided with a changeover switch for selecting a criterion for determining an inter-vehicle distance and a speed according to a road surface condition.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle speed control device provided with a sensor for selecting a criterion for determining an inter-vehicle distance and a speed according to a road surface condition.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a vehicle condition detector 2 is a detection control signal generator 3 is another vehicle condition detector 4 is a determiner 5 is a speed controller 30 The other vehicle condition detector is shown in a dotted frame. 31 is an original signal wave reflector for detection to another vehicle 32 is a reflected wave detector 33 is a phase difference detector between the original signal wave and a reflected wave 34 is a phase difference differentiator 35 is another vehicle 36 33 is a phase difference detector The output 37 of the device is the output 34 of the differentiator of the phase difference 34. The output 40 of the differentiator 40 is in the judging device 4. External status sensor 53 is the output of the external status sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle condition detector, a detection control signal generator, another vehicle condition detector, a judging device, and a speed controller, the operation of which is controlled by a signal generated by the detection control signal generator. A vehicle speed control device, characterized in that the vehicle speed control device performs determination based on the detection result of the other vehicle status detector and the detection result of the vehicle status detector, and drives the speed controller to perform speed control. 2. The own vehicle speed control device according to claim 1, wherein a criterion for inter-vehicle distance and speed according to a road surface condition is prepared in a cough discriminator, and the criterion for the claw discriminator can be selected by a changeover switch. A vehicle speed control device having the above-mentioned configuration. 3. A vehicle speed control device according to claim 1, wherein a criterion for inter-vehicle distance and speed according to a road surface condition is provided in a concealment judging device to sense a road surface condition or a condition corresponding thereto. A vehicle speed control device, characterized in that a sensor is provided, and a judgment criterion of a judgment detector is selected based on an output of the detection sensor. 4. The host vehicle speed control device according to claim 1, further comprising a changeover switch for selecting an operation or a non-operation of the host vehicle speed control device.