JPH11324378A - Vehicle bottom height detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect a height of a vehicle bottom by providing a means for distinguishing coming in of a vehicle parking in a mechanical parking lot, passing of a tire, and a height of a vehicle bottom. SOLUTION: A vehicle bottom height detection device is constituted by photoelectric sensor type sensor boxes 2, 3 arranged at the entrance of a parking lot, a logic circuit 5, and an output equipment 6. Next, a vehicle provision sensor is provided at a height where light is shut off by a vehicle body and a tire in an uppermost part of the boxes 2, 3, a lowest ground height sensor is arranged in a lower part than the center of the boxes 2, 3, and tire sensors are arranged in lower parts on both right and left sides thereof. When the vehicle provision sensor detects passing of a vehicle 1 between the boxes 2 and 3, the other sensors monitor the whole face in a lower part of the vehicle body. Then, an output of each sensor is input into the circuit 5, which distinguishes whether a height of a vehicle bottom obstructs coming in of the vehicle or not in accordance with a combination of light shut-off conditions of each sensor using a detection logic, and if there is an obstruction, it gives an alarm by the equipment 6. Consequently, it is possible to detect the height of the vehicle bottom smoothly and accurately to confirm the safety.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vehicle bottom height detecting device. Specifically, vehicle height detection in a parking lot that detects the height of the bottom of a vehicle that is to be parked in a mechanical parking lot and confirms safety when entering a vehicle that may interfere with vehicle accommodation Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to transport and park a vehicle efficiently in a city space using a mechanical device instead of self-propelling, a mechanical parking facility has been increasingly used. In a mechanical parking lot, when a vehicle stop or a pallet is used to prevent the vehicle from moving back and forth while being transported, there is a portion in the device that protrudes from the tire contact surface due to structural strength.

[0003] If the vehicle bottom height of the entering vehicle is low, there is a possibility that the mechanical device of the mechanical parking facility and the lower part of the vehicle may interfere with each other. It is necessary to make a parking garage person or the like recognize and stop the parking operation of the vehicle.

[0004]

As described above, the height of the vehicle bottom in a mechanical parking lot has been determined by a person in charge of the parking lot.
Alternatively, it was confirmed using a work confirmation device, but it was not accurate and it took time, so a device for accurately and smoothly detecting the bottom height of the vehicle was required.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle bottom height detecting device for determining whether a vehicle is approaching, and a tire determining device for determining passage of a tire. And a vehicle bottom height determining means for determining whether the vehicle bottom height is larger or smaller than a predetermined value. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle bottom height detecting device according to the present invention, further comprising: a determination result output unit that outputs a determination result by the vehicle bottom height determining unit. I do.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle bottom height detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle bottom height detecting device according to the present embodiment includes two sensor boxes 2 and 3, a logic circuit 5, and an output device 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, four photoelectric sensors 8 to 11 are incorporated in the sensor boxes 2 and 3.
That is, the vehicle presence sensor 8 is disposed at the top of the sensor boxes 2 and 3. The vehicle presence sensor 8 is a sensor for detecting that the vehicle 1 has entered between the two sensor boxes 2 and 3, and is located at a height such that light is blocked by the vehicle body or the tires.

A ground clearance sensor 9 is disposed below the center of the sensor boxes 2 and 3. The minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is located at the minimum height of the vehicle that can be stored in the mechanical parking lot. If the vehicle is shielded from light by the minimum ground clearance sensor 9, the vehicle cannot be stored.

Further, tire sensors 10 and 11 are provided on the lower left and right sides of the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 of the sensor boxes 2 and 3, respectively.
Is arranged. As will be described later, the tire sensors 10 and 11 are used to distinguish whether the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is shielded from light by a tire or from the vehicle body. Each of the sensors 8 to 11 is composed of a pair of light emitting sensors and light receiving sensors facing each other in the sensor boxes 2 and 3.

Accordingly, four sensor optical axes 4 are formed between the two sensor boxes 2 and 3, and when the vehicle 1 passes between the sensor boxes 2 and 3, four sensor optical axes 4 The state of light projection / shielding of the sensors 8 to 11 changes. Here, when it is detected that the vehicle 1 is passing between the sensor boxes 2 and 3 by blocking the vehicle presence sensor 8 from light, the vehicle bottom height detecting device detects the photoelectric sensors 9-1.
The monitoring is continued by 1 to capture the entire lower surface of the vehicle body. Outputs from the four photoelectric sensors 8 to 11 incorporated in the sensor boxes 2 and 3 are input to the logic circuit 5.

The logic circuit 5 is constructed based on the detection logic shown in Table 1, and the circuit 5 adjusts the bottom height of the vehicle to be stored into the vehicle according to the combination of the light blocking state of the photoelectric sensor. It is determined whether or not a trouble is caused.

[0012]

[Table 1]

In Table 1, "ON" indicates that light is shielded, "OFF" indicates that light is not shielded, "abnormal" means that there is a problem in housing the vehicle, and "normal" means that the vehicle is housed. Indicates no problem. Here, the detection logic in the logic circuit 5 is described as follows. That is, of the four photoelectric sensors 8 to 11, the vehicle presence sensor 8
If the vehicle and the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 are simultaneously shielded from light by the vehicle body, it can be determined that the accommodation of the vehicle is hindered.

However, the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is always shielded from light by the tires of the vehicle regardless of the height of the vehicle bottom. Therefore, in addition to the vehicle presence sensor 8 and the minimum ground clearance sensor 9, in order to distinguish whether the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is shielded from light by the vehicle body or from the tires,
This is one in which two tire sensors 10 and 11 are added.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, while one or both of the two tire sensors 10 and 11 are shielded from light, even if the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is shielded from light, It is determined that there is no hindrance to the accommodation of the vehicle because the light is blocked by 12. Also, two tire sensors 1
If the minimum ground clearance sensor 9 is shielded from light when 0 and 11 are not shielded, it is determined that the vehicle is blocked because the light is blocked by the vehicle body.

In this way, when it is determined that there is a problem with the accommodation of the vehicle, a lamp provided on the output device 6 is turned on or a buzzer sounds to notify the parking staff or the vehicle driver that parking is impossible. I will inform you. As a result, safety confirmation at the time of storage is performed. Note that, depending on the vehicle body, a vehicle presence sensor 8, a minimum ground clearance sensor 9, and tire sensors 10, 11
If light is shielded at the same time, it is erroneously recognized as light shielding by a tire. However, since the tire sensors 10 and 11 are installed at a sufficiently low height from the ground, it can be said that there is usually no car that can be shielded by the vehicle body in this way.

As described above, the vehicle bottom height detecting device according to the present embodiment smoothly and accurately detects the vehicle bottom height while the vehicle is running, and hinders the accommodation of the vehicle. It is possible to confirm the safety of the vehicle at the time of entry. In addition, this device can be applied to other uses besides the mechanical parking lot for detecting a vehicle in which the lower portion of the vehicle is below a certain height.

[0018]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, the vehicle bottom height detecting device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an approach determining means for determining the approach of a vehicle, and a tire passing determination means. And a vehicle bottom height determining unit that determines whether the vehicle bottom height is larger or smaller than a predetermined value, so that the vehicle bottom can be smoothly and accurately maintained while the vehicle is running. By detecting the height, it is possible to confirm the safety of a vehicle that interferes with the accommodation of the vehicle at the time of entry.

Further, the vehicle bottom height detecting device according to claim 2 of the present invention is provided with the discrimination result output means for outputting the discrimination result by the vehicle bottom height discriminating means in claim 1. It is possible to notify the parking staff or the vehicle driver or the like that it is not only possible to enter the parking lot but also to obtain the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle bottom height detection device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an arrangement diagram of sensors in a sensor box.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating light blocking by a tire of a vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2, 3 Sensor box 4 Sensor optical axis 5 Logic circuit 6 Output device 8 Car presence sensor 9 Minimum ground clearance sensor 10, 11 Tire sensor 12 Tire

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An approach determining means for determining approach of a vehicle, a tire determining means for determining passage of a tire, and a vehicle bottom height determining means for determining whether the vehicle bottom height is larger or smaller than a predetermined value. A vehicle bottom height detecting device, comprising: 2. The vehicle bottom height detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a determination result output unit that outputs a determination result by the vehicle bottom height determination unit.