JPH07237513A - Obstacle alarm device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a contact accident or the like by alarming the approach of an obstacle into a fixed area around a vehicle to a driver through a side lamp arranged severally on both the sides of the upper face of the front end part of a car body. CONSTITUTION:A side lamp 11 is severally arranged at positions which are on both the sides of the upper face of the front end part of a car body and visible to a driver. A sensor 30 to detect the approach of an obstacle into a fixed area around a vehicle is provided in the vehicle. A side lamp potential circuit 20 weakly turns on the side lamp 11 by driver's operation of a light switch 13, and the side lamp 11 is fully turned on by a signal sent from the sensor 30 functioning in the case of the approach of the obstacle into the fixed area around the vehicle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention alerts a driver that an obstacle is approaching within a certain range around a vehicle by using a vehicle width light installed to display the vehicle width of the vehicle. It is related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle such as an automobile, the driver can visually recognize the width of the vehicle being driven even at night so that the driver can visually recognize the width of the vehicle on both sides of the front end of the vehicle body. A vehicle side light is arranged at a location, and the vehicle side light is connected so as to be turned on by a driver's operation of a light switch (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 54-123752).

By the way, as a function required of a vehicle in recent years, there is a function called active safety.
This is not to protect the driver in the event of an accident, but to detect abnormalities in the surroundings and prevent accidents before they happen.For example, if there are obstacles within a certain range around the vehicle, By warning the driver of approaching, the driver slows down or confirms by stopping to avoid accidents such as collision and contact (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-21).
No. 6340, No. 4-4500, No. 4-148889
No. 4,221,246, and No. 4-328048).

[0004]

However, adding such a function requires the addition of a component (for example, a display member for alarming an abnormality in the surroundings), which requires modification of the vehicle body. Accordingly, the cost is increased, and it is actually extremely difficult to install the vehicle after it is purchased. An object of the present invention is to realize active safety of a vehicle with a simple structure, and in particular, by using a sideways light installed to display the width of the vehicle, the vehicle is kept within a certain range around the vehicle. The present invention provides a device that warns a driver that an obstacle is approaching.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a vehicle side light which is arranged at a position visible to the driver on at least both sides of the upper surface of the front end of the vehicle body, and a fixed area around the vehicle. A sensor for detecting the approach of an obstacle within the range, and the driver's operation of the light switch to turn on the side lights weakly, and at least one of the side lights is turned on in response to a signal from the sensor. And a vehicle-side light voltage circuit for lighting the vehicle-side light voltage circuit, and in particular, the vehicle-side light voltage circuit causes the vehicle-side light to weakly light by the driver's operation of a light switch and the obstacle. According to the signal of the sensor according to the approaching state, the side lights are lit with a plurality of levels of brightness.

[0006]

The vehicle side lights arranged at positions visible to the driver on at least both sides of the upper surface of the front end of the vehicle body can alert the driver that an obstacle is approaching within a certain range around the vehicle. It is possible to prevent contact accidents and the like in advance, without requiring major modifications to the vehicle, and without adding a large number of components, it is possible to realize with a simple configuration, in particular, the approach state of the obstacle. It can give an alarm according to.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 are a circuit diagram of the embodiment, an explanatory view of a main part of a vehicle to which the embodiment is applied, and a signal waveform diagram. The vehicle width lamp circuit 10 is well known, and a pair of vehicle width lamps 11 arranged on both sides of the upper surface of the front end portion of the vehicle body A where the driver can visually recognize have a larger light amount than the conventional one, for example, 20 watts. It is connected between a 12-volt on-vehicle battery 12 and a light switch 13 which are connected in series using a halogen light bulb and a side-lighting voltage circuit which will be described later.

The side light voltage circuit 20 includes a light switch 1
3 or a voltage follower 21 which receives the signal (0 to 5 volts) of a sensor to be described later, and turns on the side light 11. The voltage follower 21 inputs the signal a of the sensor, and the output of the voltage follower 21. Signal and resistance 22,2
The signal of the light switch 13 divided by 3 into 1/2 (2.5 volts) is input as the comparison signal b to the comparison terminal of the comparator 24, and the reference terminal of the comparator 24 receives the reference signal from the triangular wave generator 25. c is input, and the output signal d of the comparator 24 outputs the drive signal e from the drain of the FET 27 to the side view light circuit 10 via the drive circuit 28 including the transistor 26 and the FET 27.

The sensor 30 is a proximity sensor which is mounted around the vehicle body A and detects when an obstacle (for example, another vehicle, a pedestrian or a building) approaches within a certain range around the vehicle B. For example, two before and after vehicle B (3 in FIG. 2).
1, 32) are installed, and when at least one of the two detects that an obstacle approaches within the certain range, a signal (0 to 5 volts) corresponding to the approach state (distance) is output. Output to the voltage circuit 20.

Next, the signals a to e will be described. The signal a is L (low = 0) depending on whether the sensor 30 detects the distance between the vehicle B and the obstacle and whether the distance, that is, the obstacle is within a certain range (for example, 1 meter around the vehicle B (front and rear)). Volt) or H (High = 5 Volt) (Fig. 3
A). The signal b is the signal of the light switch 13 and the sensor 3
When the light switch 13 and the sensor 30 are both turned off in the area A in which the signal a is 0, the light switch 13 is H.
Is on and sensor 30 is off in area b, M (middle =
2.5 V), regardless of the light switch 13, it becomes L in the area C where the sensor 30 is on (b in FIG. 3). Signal c
Is a triangular wave signal that is constantly generated for determining the threshold value of the comparator 24 (c in FIG. 3). The signal d becomes H only when the latter is larger than the former due to the signals b and c,
Area A is always L, area A is L and H are repeated at a constant duty (for example, 50%), and area C is always H (d in FIG. 3). The signal e has a high level, that is, H = 12 volts, in synchronization with the signal d so that the side lights 11 can be fully or weakly turned on (e in FIG. 3).

According to this structure, when the light switch 13 is turned off in a bright environment such as daytime and the sensor 30 having no obstacle within 1 meter of the vehicle B is turned off (area A in FIG. 2), the light switch is turned on. The signal of 13 is L and the sensor 30
Since the signal of H is 5 (5 volts), the signal from the comparator 21 becomes L and the side lamp 11 is off.

Light switch 1 in a dark environment such as at night
3 is on and the sensor 30 with no obstacle within 1 meter around the vehicle B is off (region a in FIG. 2), the signal of the light switch 13 is H (2.5 volts) and the signal of the sensor 30 is H. Therefore, the signal from the comparator 21 is M (2.5
Bolt), and the side light 11 is a PW with a duty of 50%.
The width of the vehicle body A of the vehicle B is displayed to the driver by weakly lighting by M (pulse width modulation) driving.

A sensor 3 having an obstacle within 1 meter around the vehicle B irrespective of the signal from the light switch 13.
When 0 is on (region C in FIG. 2), the signal from the comparator 21 becomes H, and the side light 11 has a duty of 100%.
All of the lights are turned on by the PWM method driving, and the driver is warned that there is an obstacle near the vehicle B.

As described above, since the sideways light 11 that has been used conventionally is also used for the warning of an obstacle, it is not necessary to use a dedicated warning device and can be easily applied. . The side-light voltage circuit 20 and the sensor 30
However, the addition of such a component is only a slight change and does not significantly increase the cost.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention in which the signal a (a in FIG. 3) of the sensor 30 of the above embodiment is changed. That is, the signal a detects the distance between the vehicle B and the obstacle, and H (high = 5 volts) to L (low = low) depending on the distance.
It varies between 0 volts and is, for example, infinity (no obstacle) to the first detection distance (for example, 1.5 around the vehicle B).
In the second detection distance (the same 1 meter) is H, and in the first detection distance to the second detection distance, it is H to L and decreases according to the distance (FIG. 4). ). Others are the same as the above-mentioned embodiment.

According to this embodiment, in the area C of FIG. 2, the duty of the signal e changes in accordance with the signal a of the sensor 30, and the brightness of the side lights 11 is switched from the extinction to the full lighting. Can be turned on, and an alarm can be issued according to the approaching state of an obstacle.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the warnings corresponding to the approaching state of the obstacle are simultaneously issued by all the side lights 11, but at least one warning may be issued. Further, a pair (two) of the side lights 11 are provided on both sides of the upper surface of the front end portion of the vehicle body A,
Another structure may be provided in the center of the upper surface of the front end portion of the vehicle body A to further reliably warn the driver.

[0019]

As described above, the present invention detects the approaching of an obstacle within a certain range around the vehicle and a sidelight which is arranged at a position visible to the driver on at least both sides of the upper surface of the front end of the vehicle body. And a vehicle side-light voltage circuit for weakly turning on the side-lights by the driver's operation of a light switch and for fully turning on at least one of the side-lights according to a signal from the sensor. This is characterized by the fact that vehicle side lights placed on both sides of the upper surface of the front end of the vehicle body can alert the driver that an obstacle is approaching within a certain range around the vehicle, and a contact accident Etc. can be prevented in advance. The modification of the vehicle body to realize this can be done simply by changing the circuit portion (vehicle width light voltage circuit, etc.), for example, by adding one circuit board and switching the wiring. Can be suppressed, and installation after purchase of the vehicle is possible, which can be realized with a simple configuration.

In the vehicle-side light voltage circuit, the vehicle-side light is weakly turned on by the driver's operation of the light switch, and the vehicle-side light is turned on according to the output of the sensor according to the approaching state of the obstacle. By turning on the light with a plurality of levels of brightness, an alarm can be issued according to the approaching state of an obstacle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part of a vehicle to which the embodiment described above is applied.

FIG. 3 is a signal waveform diagram of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a signal waveform diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Car Side Light Circuit 11 Car Side Light 13 Light Switch 20 Car Side Light Voltage Circuit 30 (31, 32) Sensor A Body B Vehicle

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location B60R 16/02 J G01S 13/93 G08B 5/36 B 21/00 U G08G 1/16 C 7531- 3H

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle width light arranged at a location visible to a driver on at least both sides of an upper surface of a front end of a vehicle body, and a sensor for detecting that an obstacle approaches within a certain range around the vehicle. A side-lighting voltage circuit that weakly lights the side-lights by the driver's operation of a light switch and fully lights at least one of the side-lights according to a signal from the sensor. Obstacle warning device for vehicles. 2. A vehicle width light arranged at a location visible to a driver on at least both sides of an upper surface of a front end portion of a vehicle body, and a sensor for detecting that an obstacle approaches within a certain range around the vehicle. The driver's operation of the light switch causes the side lights to be weakly lit and at least one of the side lights is lit in a plurality of levels of brightness according to a signal from the sensor according to the approaching state of the obstacle. 2. The vehicle obstacle warning device according to claim 1, further comprising: