JPH06284334A - Traffic lane running-away alarming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need of an auxiliary headlamp and to secure a traffic lane running-away alarming function at night time by letting a part of irradiating beams leak and irraditing the just front of a vehicle photographed by a traffic lane detection means with the main headlamp of the vehicle. CONSTITUTION:The irradiating beams B of the main headlamp 2 irradiate a distant road surface in front of the vehicle, however, the road surface is different from a road surface position by a visual field (c) just in front to be detected by the traffic lane detection means 1. Then, the main headlamp 2 is provided with a means for changing the irradiating direction of a part of the irradiating beams B, leaking beams D are generated from the irradiating beams B by the means and thus, picture signals for irradiating the road surface for the visual field (c) to be photographed by the traffic lane detection means 1 just in front of the vehicle 10 are outputted. A signal processing means extracts a traffic lane on the road surface from the picture signals received from the traffic lane detection means 1. Then, it is defined that an alarm operation condition is valid when a direction instructing operation is not performed at the time of a dangerous state where a distance between the traffic land and the vehicle becomes equal to or lower than a fixed value and an alarm is issued.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lane departure warning device, and more particularly to a device for warning a departure of a vehicle from the lane (white line, yellow line) by monitoring the road surface condition immediately before the vehicle with a line camera or the like. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art JP-A-59-128693 or JP-A-3-27
In a lane departure warning device conventionally known from 3498, etc., the front of the vehicle is photographed by a camera as lane detection means, and the obtained image signal is binarized by a signal processing means, so that the road surface is The lane is extracted, and when the distance between the lane and the vehicle is in a dangerous state of a certain value or less, if the direction instruction operation is not performed, the alarm device is activated to issue an alarm.

The headlight of a vehicle equipped with such a lane departure warning device is usually for the purpose of securing a night-time traveling visual field a by the driver's naked eye EP as shown in FIGS. 5 (1) and 5 (2). The headlamp 2 is designed and mounted, and the irradiation range b (hatched portion) of the headlight 2 is limited to the driver's visual field a as shown in the figure.

On the other hand, in such a lane departure warning system,
In order to detect the deviation of the vehicle 10 from the lane with high accuracy, it is necessary to set the sensor visual field c of the lane detection means 1 to be close to (just before) the front portion of the vehicle.

Therefore, in the conventional lane departure warning system,
During nighttime driving, the warning process is performed in the range of a few meters closest to the front end of the vehicle, which is the lane detection target, by relying only on light that is accidentally leaked.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional example, since the area in front of the vehicle is illuminated only by accidental leakage light, the lane detection cannot be accurately performed at night, and the lane departure warning is issued. There was a problem that the function of the device could not be achieved.

On the other hand, such a problem can be solved by adding an auxiliary headlight (auxiliary lighting) such as a fog lamp and irradiating the visual field of the lane detecting means, but it can be assisted by the safety standard of the vehicle. There are restrictions on the number and mounting position of headlights, and it is practically difficult to physically and costly increase the number of headlamps that have recently become popular in the type of vehicle that integrates main headlights and auxiliary headlights. Funny

Further, since the lane detecting means has a field-of-view range in front of the driver's field of view, it is difficult to detect a bulb break or optical axis deviation of the auxiliary headlight. Maintenance cannot be expected.

Therefore, even if the auxiliary headlights are added, there is a high probability that they will be in a failure state when used by the user, and the purpose of ensuring the nighttime function of the lane departure warning cannot be achieved.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize a device capable of issuing a lane departure warning of a vehicle even at night without providing an auxiliary headlight.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems A lane departure warning system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is "immediately before" a vehicle.
A lane that extracts a lane on the road surface from the image signal obtained from the lane detecting means that shoots the lane and issues an alarm if the directional operation is not performed when the distance between the lane and the vehicle becomes a certain value or less. It is assumed to be a deviation warning device.

In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 (1) and 1 (2), the main headlamp 2 of the vehicle 10 causes a part D (hatched portion) of the irradiation beam B to leak. Lane detection means 1
It has means for illuminating the front of the vehicle photographed by.

[0013]

In the present invention shown in FIG. 1, when the main headlight 2 of the vehicle 10 is turned on at night, the irradiation beam B of the main headlight 2 illuminates a far road surface in front of the vehicle. In this case, the road surface illuminated is different from the road surface position in the immediately preceding visual field c that the lane detection means 1 is trying to detect.

Therefore, the main headlamp 2 has means for changing the irradiation direction of a part of the irradiation beam B, and by generating a leak beam D from the irradiation beam B by this means, the vehicle 10 The immediately preceding lane detecting means 1 illuminates the road surface with respect to the visual field c to be photographed and outputs an image signal.

A signal processing means (not shown) extracts the lane on the road surface from the image signal received from the lane detecting means 1. Then, when the distance between the lane and the vehicle is in a dangerous state below a certain position, if the direction instruction operation is not performed, it is considered that the alarm activation condition is satisfied and an alarm is issued as in the conventional example.

In this way, lane departure warning processing can be performed at night without providing an auxiliary headlight.

[0017]

2 and 3 show an example of a main headlamp of a vehicle equipped with the lane departure warning system according to the present invention shown in FIG.

First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the main headlamp 2 includes a light source 21, a reflecting mirror 22, and a lens glass 2 as is well known.
The illumination light emitted from the light source 21 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 22 to be parallel light, and then expanded by the lens glass 23 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. Vehicle 1 as (passing beam / running beam)
Illuminates the front of 0 (far).

In this embodiment, the lens glass 2
A prism 24 as shown in the drawing is adhered to a part of the output side of 3. The prism 24 constitutes a means for converting a part of the irradiation beam B generated from the main headlamp 2 into a leakage beam D and irradiating the front of the vehicle photographed by the lane detecting means 1. A part of the irradiation beam B reflected by the reflecting mirror 22 by the prism 24 is a leakage beam D as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the area immediately in front of the vehicle 10 (the detection visual field c of the lane detection means 1) is illuminated.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the lens glass 23 is connected to the reflecting plate 25, and the leaking beam D is generated by the reflecting plate 25 as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the arrangement when the lane departure warning system according to the present invention is actually attached to the vehicle 10.
The line camera 1 as lane detection means is installed on the roof in front of the vehicle 10 and detects the road surface illuminated by the leakage beam D from the main headlight 2 based on the detection field of view c.

The controller 5 equipped with a CPU as signal processing means is provided under the seat of the driver's seat so that output signals from a vehicle speed sensor and a direction indicator (not shown) can be simultaneously input. .

The alarm device 4 is composed of an actuator drive circuit 41 driven by the controller 5 and a steering actuator 42 driven by the drive circuit 41. The actuator 42 operates the steering wheel 11 when an alarm is issued (step S8 in FIG. 1).
The vibration is given to give an alarm to the driver.

[0024]

As described above, according to the lane departure warning system of the present invention, the main headlight of the vehicle leaks a part of its irradiation beam and is displayed immediately before the vehicle by the lane detecting means. Since it is configured to illuminate the vehicle, it is possible to secure the lane departure warning function at night without the need to separately provide an auxiliary headlight.

Further, since the irradiation range of the leakage beam is set in front of the vehicle by design, there is no fear of adverse effects such as dazzling oncoming vehicles due to incorrect installation. Main headlamps are regularly inspected and maintained, so maintenance in the market can be expected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a lane departure warning system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a main headlight used in the lane departure warning system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment of the main headlight used in the lane departure warning system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram when the lane departure warning device according to the present invention is incorporated in an actual vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Lane detection means 2 Main headlight 21 Light source 22 Reflector 23 Lens glass 24 Prism 25 Reflector 4 Alarm device 5 Signal processing means (CPU) 10 Vehicle a Driver view b Headlight illumination range B Irradiation beam c Detection view D In the leaky beam diagram, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G08G 1/04 C 7214-3H H04N 5/225 C

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lane on the road surface is extracted from an image signal obtained from a lane detecting means for photographing the front of the vehicle, and a direction indicating operation is performed when the distance between the lane and the vehicle becomes a predetermined value or less. In a lane departure warning device that gives an alarm if not already provided, the main headlamp of the vehicle has means for irradiating a portion of its irradiation beam to illuminate the front of the vehicle photographed by the lane detection means. Lane departure warning device characterized by being