JPH0920192A - Automobile having safety device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a pedestrian from being wounded at contact time, and also prevent damage of a car body by expanding a bumper according to a speed signal and a distance signal. SOLUTION: A speed signal outputted from a speed sensor 34 and a distance signal outputted from an object sensor 35 are inputted to a control device 31, and whether or not they are not more than a bumper projecting value prestored in a storage device 32 is judged according to these signals. When they are not more than the projecting value, a driving signal is outputted to a blower 23, and compressed air is supplied, and a bumper 10 is expanded. When they are not less than the projecting value, the compressed air supplied to the bumper 10 is released, and the bumper contracts. That is, when an inter-vehicle distance becomes short, the bumper 10 is projected to prevent a danger at collision time, and when an inter-vehicle distance becomes long, the bumper 10 returns to a contracted condition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle with a safety device that protects the driver's body and vehicle body in the event of a collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a driver's safety measure has become a problem because a driver's vehicle is often injured due to a rear-end collision accident such as a drowsy driving at a high speed. As a countermeasure, for example,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-109442 discloses a vehicle equipped with a safety device that detects the distance between a vehicle of its own and another vehicle and mechanically protrudes a bumper when the vehicle is too close. ing.

[0003]

However, since the conventional bumper is made of a rigid material such as metal or a plate material on which semi-rigid plastic or the like is laminated, protection of pedestrians and protection of the vehicle body are provided. I was not completely satisfied with that point.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle with a safety device which can prevent damage to the vehicle body without damaging a pedestrian at the time of contact.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle with a safety device of the present invention comprises a speed sensor for detecting a running speed and outputting a speed signal, a vehicle body of itself, and other objects. An object sensor that detects a distance between them and outputs a distance signal, a bumper that is attached to the vehicle body and expands or contracts, and a drive unit that expands or contracts the bumper,
The speed signal output from the speed sensor and the distance signal output from the object sensor are compared with a traveling speed stored in a storage device in advance and a relational value of a distance between the vehicle body and another object, and the driving means. And a control device that outputs a drive signal to the. When approaching another object to the vehicle body, the control device compares the speed signal detected by the speed sensor and the distance signal detected by the object sensor with the relationship value between the speed and distance stored in the storage device and outputs a drive signal to the drive means. As a result, the person and the vehicle body are protected when the bumper expands and comes into contact or collision. Further, when the detected speed signal and distance signal become equal to or less than the relational values stored in the storage device, the drive signal is released, the bumper contracts and is pulled back to the vehicle body side.

Further, it is preferable that the bumper has a bellows body which is projected from the vehicle body or is pulled back to the vehicle body by expansion or contraction due to air pressure because the elasticity of the bumper due to air pressure can protect a person and a vehicle body. The storage device,
The fact that the output timing of the drive signal, which has the relationship that the distance between the vehicle body and another object increases as the traveling speed increases, is stored in the bumper according to the distance between the traveling speed and the other object. It is preferable in that the projecting time can be adjusted. It is only the protrusion of the damper that the storage device further stores the output timing of the notification signal to be output to the notification device having a relationship that the distance between the vehicle body and another object increases as the traveling speed increases. However, it is preferable in that the alarm can be issued by the notification device at an early stage.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automobile with a safety device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a content of a storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention in a graph, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the bumper relating to the form is contracted, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the bumper according to the embodiment of the present invention is inflated, and FIG. 5 is an automobile with a safety device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows a structure.

In these figures, a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a speed sensor 34 for detecting a traveling speed and outputting a speed signal at a portion for detecting rotation of a wheel 3, and a vehicle body 2 An object sensor 35 that detects a distance to an object such as the front vehicle 5 and outputs a distance signal is provided in the front portion. Further, a bumper 1 is attached to the front portion 2a of the vehicle body 2.
0 is provided, and the control device 3 is provided at an appropriate position inside the vehicle body 2.
1. A notification device 4 that is provided with a storage device 32 and issues an alarm when the distance between the vehicle body and another object approaches the driver's seat
Is provided.

The bumper 10 includes a main body 11 and its main body 1.
1 and a bellows body 21 provided inside. The main body 11
It is formed in a horizontally long box shape having a bottom portion 11a and an opening on the front side, and is made of a rigid body such as metal. And the main body 1
1 is 2 or 4 attached to the outside of the bottom 11a
It is fixed to the front end portion 2a of the vehicle body 2 by a column 12. The bellows body 21 is composed of a horizontally long bellows having a size to be housed inside the box-shaped body 11, and is formed of a flexible elastic body such as rubber or plastic. The bellows body 21 is
The rear end 21b on one side is the box-shaped bottom 11a of the main body 11.
It is stuck inside the. An air pipe 22 communicating with the inside of the bellows body 21 is provided on the bottom portion 11 a of the main body 11. Then, the compressed air is blown into the bellows body 21 through the air pipe 22, so that the bellows body 21 expands and the other tip portion 21b projects toward the front of the vehicle body 2, and the air is discharged, so that the bellows body 21 is discharged. Elasticity causes the bellows to contract, and the tip portion 21b is pulled back to be housed in the main body 11.

The air pipe 22 is connected to a blower 23 which is a driving means for discharging compressed air for expanding the bumper 10 and releasing it for discharging compressed air from the expanded bumper 10. The blower 23 is operated by a drive signal output from the control device 31 described later. For example, the blower 23 switches between pressure tank discharge and air discharge so as to always discharge a constant amount of air. It is preferable to provide a valve or the like.

The speed sensor 34 is, for example, a portion that detects the rotation of the wheels 3 and outputs the traveling speed as a speed signal. Further, the object sensor 35 provided in the front part of the vehicle body 2 is
For example, it is a part that emits a sound wave or the like toward the front, detects the time until it returns after returning to an object in front, and outputs a distance signal. These speed signal and distance signal are input to the control device 31.

FIG. 2 shows a graph for determining the operation timing of the bumper 10 and the alarm device 4 from the relationship between the traveling speed and the distance to another object (hereinafter referred to as the inter-vehicle distance). The inter-vehicle distance relation value is stored in the storage device 32.
Is stored in In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis represents the traveling speed (K
m / H), the vertical axis is the distance to another object (vehicle distance)
(M), the curve a shows the upper limit of the notification value for operating the notification device 4, and the curve b shows the upper limit of the bumper protrusion value for operating the bumper 10. Both the curves a and b are set so that the inter-vehicle distance increases as the traveling speed increases, and at the same traveling speed, the upper limit of the alarm value (curve b) is set.
Is larger than the upper limit of the bumper protrusion value (curve b). That is, it is set so that the distance between vehicles is increased in consideration of the reaction time of a person and the inter-vehicle distance is increased to issue an alarm or the bumper 10 projects, and the bumper 10 projects after the alarm is issued. It has become. For example, when traveling at a traveling speed of 80 Km / H, the inter-vehicle distance is 20
At m (A), the alarm device 4 is activated, and at the traveling speed, the bumper 10 is activated at an inter-vehicle distance of 5 m (B), and the relation value is stored in the storage device 32.

The control device 31 compares the speed signal output from the speed sensor 34 and the distance signal output from the object sensor 35 with the relation value (curve a or b in FIG. 2) stored in the storage device 32. Then, each is a part that outputs a notification signal to the notification device 4 or outputs a drive signal to the blower (drive means) 23.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automobile with a safety device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the automobile 1 travels, the speed signal output from the speed sensor 34 and the distance signal output from the object sensor 35 are input to the control device 31, and are stored in advance based on the speed signal and the distance signal. It is determined whether or not it is below the notification value stored in the device 32 (below the curve a) (ST1), and when it is below the notification value, a notification signal is output to the notification device 4 and an alarm is issued (ST2). Next, it is judged whether or not it is equal to or higher than the notification value (ST3), and when it is equal to or higher than the notification value, the notification of the notification device 4 is stopped (ST4), and the process returns to the first step again. That is, when the inter-vehicle distance becomes short at a predetermined traveling speed, an alarm is issued from the notification device 4 to notify a danger such as a rear-end collision, and when the inter-vehicle distance becomes long even at the same traveling speed, the notification of the notification device 4 is stopped. next,
When the value is less than or equal to the notification value (when the alarm is issued by the notification device 4), it is determined based on the speed signal and the distance signal whether it is less than or equal to the bumper protrusion value (below the curve b) stored in the storage device 32. (ST5), if the protrusion value or less, a drive signal is output to the blower 23 and compressed air is supplied to the bumper 1
When 0 expands (ST6) and is equal to or more than the protrusion value, the process returns to the determination of the notification value. Next, it is determined whether or not the bumper protrusion value is greater than or equal to (ST7). When the bumper protrusion value is greater than or equal to the protrusion value, the compressed air supplied to the bumper 10 is released and contracts (ST8), and then the process returns to the determination below the bumper protrusion value. . When the protrusion value is not greater than or equal to the protrusion value, the expansion of the bumper 10 is continued. That is, when the inter-vehicle distance is further shortened while the alarm is issued by the notification device 4, the bumper 10 is projected to prevent the risk of a rear-end collision, and when the inter-vehicle distance is long, the bumper 10 is Return to contracted state.

In the automobile 1 with the safety device having the above-described structure, based on the traveling speed detected by the speed sensor 34 and the inter-vehicle distance detected by the object sensor 35, the traveling speed and the inter-vehicle distance previously stored in the storage device 32 in the control device 31. When the inter-vehicle distance according to the traveling speed becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value in comparison with the relation value of No. 1, a notification signal is first output to the alarm device 4 to issue an alarm, and when the inter-vehicle distance becomes smaller, the drive signal is output to the blower (driving means). ) 23, the bumper 10 expands and is projected in front of the vehicle body 2. As a result, the driver is protected in the event of a collision, and the contact portion of the bumper 10 with other objects is
Since it is made of a soft bellows body that is inflated with pressurized air, it does not cause damage to the human body even if it comes into contact with it, and damage to the vehicle body is less.

In the present embodiment, the object sensor 35
Although the bumper 10 and the bumper 10 are provided at the front portion of the vehicle body 2, they can be provided at the rear portion as well so as to be protected against a collision from the rear. In the storage device 32, the running speed and the inter-vehicle distance are stored as continuous relationship values of the curves a and b shown in FIG. May be stored,
As a result, the storage capacity can be reduced. Further, the notification device 4 may be a device that can give an alarm by sound or a device that can display a caution.

[0018]

As described above, in the automobile with the safety device of the present invention, when the vehicle approaches another object while the vehicle is traveling, an alarm is first issued to alert the driver, and when the vehicle further approaches, the air Since the bumper of the soft bellows body that is inflated by the protrusion, damage to a pedestrian, a driver, and a vehicle body is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automobile with a safety device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a graph.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a contracted state of the bumper according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the bumper according to the embodiment of the present invention is inflated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle with a safety device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the automobile with the safety device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Car 2 Car Body 3 Wheel 4 Notification Device 5 Other Car 10 Bumper 11 Main Body 12 Support 21 Bellows 22 Air Pipe 31 Control Device 32 Memory Device 34 Speed Sensor 35 Object Sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A speed sensor that detects a traveling speed and outputs a speed signal, an object sensor that detects a distance between a vehicle body of the vehicle and another object and outputs a distance signal, and the sensor is attached to the vehicle body. A bumper that expands or contracts, a drive unit that expands or contracts the bumper, a speed signal output from the speed sensor and a distance signal output from the object sensor are stored in advance in a storage device, and a running speed and a vehicle body are stored. And a controller that outputs a drive signal to the drive means by comparing the relationship value of the distance between the vehicle and another object. 2. The automobile with a safety device according to claim 1, wherein the bumper has a bellows body that projects from the vehicle body or is pulled back to the vehicle body by expansion or contraction by air pressure. 3. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the storage device stores an output timing of a drive signal having a relationship that a distance between a vehicle body and another object increases as a traveling speed increases. Car. 4. The storage device further stores the output timing of a notification signal to be output to a notification device having a relationship in which the distance between the vehicle body and another object increases as the traveling speed increases. Vehicles with the described safety device.