US20140218521A1 - Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof - Google Patents

Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof Download PDF

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Publication number
US20140218521A1
US20140218521A1 US13/521,107 US201113521107A US2014218521A1 US 20140218521 A1 US20140218521 A1 US 20140218521A1 US 201113521107 A US201113521107 A US 201113521107A US 2014218521 A1 US2014218521 A1 US 2014218521A1
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United States
Prior art keywords
illumination
vehicle
area
watching
side area
Prior art date
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Abandoned
Application number
US13/521,107
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English (en)
Inventor
Takeshi Tanaka
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Toyota Motor Corp
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Toyota Motor Corp
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Publication date
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Assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA reassignment TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: TANAKA, TAKESHI
Publication of US20140218521A1 publication Critical patent/US20140218521A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
    • B60Q1/32—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating vehicle sides, e.g. clearance lights
    • B60Q1/323—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating vehicle sides, e.g. clearance lights on or for doors
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/0017—Devices integrating an element dedicated to another function
    • B60Q1/0023—Devices integrating an element dedicated to another function the element being a sensor, e.g. distance sensor, camera
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/02—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments
    • B60Q1/24—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments for lighting other areas than only the way ahead
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/02—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments
    • B60Q1/24—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments for lighting other areas than only the way ahead
    • B60Q1/247—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments for lighting other areas than only the way ahead for illuminating the close surroundings of the vehicle, e.g. to facilitate entry or exit
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R1/00—Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
    • B60R1/002—Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle, e.g. for viewing tyres, bumpers or the like
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
    • B60R25/01—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/18—Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q2400/00—Special features or arrangements of exterior signal lamps for vehicles
    • B60Q2400/40—Welcome lights, i.e. specific or existing exterior lamps to assist leaving or approaching the vehicle
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R2300/00—Details of viewing arrangements using cameras and displays, specially adapted for use in a vehicle
    • B60R2300/70—Details of viewing arrangements using cameras and displays, specially adapted for use in a vehicle characterised by an event-triggered choice to display a specific image among a selection of captured images

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to illuminating a foot area of the driver when he/she climbs into a vehicle such as an automobile in the darkness as well as enabling the driver to watch a side area of the vehicle under an illumination when he/she drives the vehicle carefully at low speed on a parking area, an alley or a mountain road in the darkness.
  • Patent Document 1 JP Laid-open 2000-62531
  • Patent Document 2 JP Laid-open 2000-85408
  • Patent Document 3 JP Laid-open 2005-51403
  • the area illuminated by the widely used lamp which is automatically put on in reacting to the smart key to illuminate a road area at a side of the vehicle is a road area immediately aside to the vehicle in which the feet of the driver are located in climbing into the vehicle, and is the same as the road area whose information is very important for the driver who must carefully determine the sideward position of the vehicle in parking it or driving it on an alley or a mountain road. It is when the vehicle is driven at a very low speed including zero that the view of such a side road area is needed.
  • the present invention proposes a vehicle comprising a side area illumination lamp for illuminating a side road area of the vehicle, a side area watching camera for watching the side road area of the vehicle, a navigation display, and an electronic control unit for controlling operations of the side area illumination lamp, the side area watching camera and the navigation display, wherein the electronic control unit puts on the side area illumination lamp for a certain time duration when a man approaches the vehicle, and also puts on the side area illumination lamp when the vehicle is being driven at a speed less than a certain threshold speed with the side area watching camera being in operation.
  • the electronic control unit may change an illumination pattern of the side area illumination lamp according as whether the side area illumination lamp is put on for the certain time duration when a man approaches the vehicle (referred to as “foot area illumination” hereinunder) or the side area illumination lamp is put on when the vehicle is being driven at a speed less than the certain threshold speed with the side area watching camera being in operation (referred to as “side road area watching illumination” hereinunder).
  • the illumination patterns for the foot area illumination and the side road area watching illumination may both be to gradually increase an intensity of the illumination, then to maintain a final intensity of the illumination for respective certain time durations and to gradually decrease the intensity of the illumination to zero, wherein the final intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination may be lower than that in the foot area illumination, the gradual increase of the intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination may be slower than that in the foot area illumination, and/or the gradual decrease of the intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination may be quicker than that in the foot area illumination.
  • the side area illumination lamp and the side area watching camera may be mounted in a door mirror.
  • the side area watching camera may be switched over between on and off conditions by a camera switch, and a view by the side area watching camera may be displayed on the navigation display only when the side area watching camera is in the on condition.
  • the vehicle may further comprise a brightness sensor for detecting a brightness of environment of the vehicle, wherein the electronic control unit may prevent to put on the side area illumination lamp when the brightness sensor is detecting the brightness above a certain level.
  • Two sets of the side area illumination lamp and the side area watching camera may be provided for the illumination and the watching of opposite sides of the vehicle.
  • the navigation display may divide a display screen into left and right side sections and may show the views by the left and right side cameras in the corresponding side sections.
  • a vehicle comprises a side area illumination lamp for illuminating a side road area of the vehicle, a side area watching camera for watching the side road area of the vehicle, a navigation display, and an electronic control unit for controlling operations of the side area illumination lamp, the side area watching camera and the navigation display, wherein the electronic control unit puts on the side area illumination lamp for a certain time duration when a man approaches the vehicle, and also puts on the side area illumination lamp when the vehicle is being driven at a speed less than a certain threshold speed with the side area watching camera being in operation, a side road area of a parked vehicle is automatically illuminated when a man approaches the vehicle in the darkness to start driving the vehicle, and further, only by supplementing substantially a camera as a hardware, while utilizing such a foot area illumination lamp for starting to drive the vehicle in the darkness, the driver can be provided with a view for watching the position of the vehicle relative to an immediate side road area of the vehicle in parking the vehicle or carefully driving the vehicle on an alley or a mountain road in the darkness, without causing such a
  • the same side area illumination lamp can serve for the foot area illumination and the side road area watching illumination by changing an illumination pattern thereof even though the foot area illumination and the side road area watching illumination are much different from one another in the optimum manner of illumination.
  • the foot area illumination and the side road area watching illumination may both be in such an illumination pattern as to gradually increase an intensity of the illumination, then to maintain a final intensity of the illumination for respective certain time durations and to gradually decrease the intensity of the illumination to zero
  • the brightness and changes thereof of the foot area illumination should be adapted to be most desirable for the reaction of the human eyes to the light beams as the light beams of the foot area illumination are directly received by the human eyes
  • the brightness and changes thereof of the side road area watching illumination should first be adapted to be most desirable for the reaction of an automatic exposure control device of the side area watching camera to the light beams as the light beams of the side road area watching illumination are received by the camera equipped with the automatic exposure control device.
  • the automatic exposure control device of camera adjusts the iris diaphragm to the brightness of the object to which the lens is directed, the adjustment is affected by the whole brightness of the environment. Since the amount of the light beams which the automatic exposure control device receives as a whole by the illumination of a part of the side road area and the door by the side area illumination lamp in the darkness is low as compared with the brightness of those objects viewed by the camera, the iris diaphragm of the automatic exposure control device is opened relatively widely such that, if the side area illumination lamp is put on in the same intensity of the illumination in side road area watching illumination as in the foot area illumination, the view through the camera is liable to become growing due to too much exposure.
  • one of the changes of the illumination pattern for adapting the side area illumination lamp to the side road area watching illumination is, when the illumination pattern is to gradually increase an intensity of the illumination, then to maintain a final intensity of the illumination for respective certain time durations and to gradually decrease the intensity of the illumination to zero, that the final intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination is made lower than that in the foot area illumination.
  • the automatic exposure control device of camera requires a certain time to substantially change the adjustment of the iris diaphragm.
  • the side area illumination lamp is put on to increase the intensity of the illumination in the manner as in the conventional foot area illumination when the side area watching camera is operating in the darkness, or if the side area illumination lamp is put on at the same time as the side area watching camera is put into operation from the condition where the iris diaphragm is widely open, the throttling of the iris diaphragm will not catch up with the increase of the brightness, and the view of the side area watching camera would once become growing. Such a growing of the view of the side area watching camera will be avoided by the gradual increase of the intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination being made slower than that in the foot area illumination.
  • Still another effective change of the illumination pattern in utilizing the conventional side area illumination lamp for the side road area watching illumination is that the gradual decrease of the intensity of the illumination in the side road area watching illumination is made quicker than that in the foot area illumination. It is considered to be comfortable for the driver and the passenger that the foot area illumination is put off slowly by taking a substantial time. On the other hand, there is no need of such a slow gradual putting off for the side road area watching illumination, and since in most cases the side road area watching illumination should be put off with the end of the driving of the vehicle, it is considered to be desirable that the side road area watching illumination is put off quickly as the ignition switch is turned off.
  • the means for illuminating and watching the side road area of the vehicle can be desirably positioned by utilizing such a part of the vehicle as the door mirror that is already available as projecting from the side wall of the vehicle.
  • the driver can obtain the view for watching the side road area of the vehicle on the navigation display instead of the normal navigation information only when he/she wishes to obtain the view for watching the side road area of the vehicle by the side area watching camera in parking the vehicle or driving the vehicle carefully on an alley or a mountain road.
  • the vehicle further comprises a brightness sensor for detecting a brightness of environment of the vehicle
  • the electronic control unit prevents to put on the side area illumination lamp when the brightness sensor is detecting the brightness above a certain level, the side area illumination lamp is not put on even when the side area watching camera is put into operation under a bright environment by the camera switch being operated by the driver in parking the vehicle or driving the vehicle carefully on an alley or a mountain road, so that it is prevented particularly that the side area illumination lamp is put on when the vehicle has slowed down or temporarily stopped due to a traffic snarl or the like in the daytime driving with the side area watching camera being in operation, thus preventing such a situation that the battery is uselessly consumed by the useless putting on of the side area illumination lamp.
  • the foot area illumination is obtained on both of the sides of the driver's seat and the opposite passenger's seat when anyone climbs into each seat in the darkness, and the driver is provided with the views for watching the opposite sides road areas of the vehicle in parking the vehicle or driving the vehicle carefully on an alley or a mountain road regardless whether it is in the daytime or the darkness.
  • the navigation display divides a display screen into left and right side sections and shows the views by the left and right side cameras in the corresponding side sections
  • the driver can manipulate the vehicle by comparing the positions of the vehicle relative to the left and right side road areas on the navigation display.
  • FIG. 1 A perspective view showing an example of a vehicle in which a combination of the side area illumination lamp and the side area watching camera according to the present invention is mounted in the door mirror.
  • FIG. 2 A view showing an example of displaying the views by the left and right side area watching cameras by the navigation display with a screen thereof being divided into left and right halves when the combination of the side area illumination lamp and the side area watching camera like those shown in FIG. 1 are mounted in the left and right door mirrors, respectively.
  • FIG. 3 A block diagram showing the construction of the vehicle concerned with the present invention in the form of an embodiment.
  • FIG. 4 A set of graphs showing an example of changing the intensity of the illumination and the manner of increasing/decreasing thereof according as whether it is the foot area illumination or the side road area watching illumination.
  • FIG. 5 A flowchart showing the manner of operation of the vehicle concerned with the present invention in the form of an embodiment.
  • the side area illumination lamp and the side area watching camera are mounted in each of left and right door mirrors 10 L and 10 R.
  • the side area illumination lamp 12 and the side area watching camera 14 are adapted to project illumination light beams from the underside of the door mirror so as to illuminate a side road area of the vehicle and to watch a view looked downward from the underside of the door mirror, respectively.
  • FIG. 2 shows only the screen portion of the navigation display incorporated in the front panel of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 .
  • the horizontally elongated screen 18 is divided into left and right halves instead of the normal navigation screen, so as to show the watching views by the left and right side area watching cameras, respectively.
  • the views shown in the figure are those obtained by the left and right side area watching cameras when the vehicle is on a road surface 24 bearing white lines 20 and 22 as slightly inclined relative thereto.
  • the left and right side area watching cameras are adjusted to provide such views that include small portions of the outer surfaces of the left and right doors, respectively.
  • the construction of the vehicle concerned with the present invention including the above-mentioned side area illumination lamp 12 and the side area watching camera 14 may be such as shown by a block diagram in FIG. 3 as an embodiment thereof.
  • the construction of the vehicle concerned with the present invention includes, in addition to the above-mentioned side area illumination lamps 12 and the side area watching cameras 14 , a navigation display 26 having the above-mentioned screen 18 , and an electronic control unit (ECU) 28 for controlling the operations of those side area illumination lamps, side area watching cameras and navigation display
  • the electronic control unit 28 is supplied with a signal from a camera switch 30 for switching over the side area watching cameras 14 between on and off conditions, and a signal from a brightness sensor 32 for detecting the brightness of environment of the vehicle, though not indispensable for the construction of the present invention.
  • a vehicle speed sensor 34 is included in the shown construction.
  • the information required for the present invention with regard to the vehicle speed is whether the vehicle speed is less than a certain relatively low speed or not, such information may be obtained from a conventional speed sensor normally equipped in the vehicle.
  • the side area illumination lamps 12 are adapted to be put on by a door lock control device sensing an approach of a smart key in the shown embodiment, a door lock releasing device (smart key) 36 and a door locking device 38 are also included in the construction.
  • control for putting on the side area illumination lamps 12 for a certain time duration when a man approaches the vehicle may be operated according to any other information which indicates an action that a man approaches the vehicle to start driving by releasing the door lock, or, as already mentioned, according to an action that a man approaches the vehicle even with no door lock releasing device such as a smart key from the view point of crime prevention.
  • the electronic control unit (ECU) 28 may be such one that is provided to execute various electronic controls of the vehicle by a micro-computer, wherein the present invention may use at least a part of such an overall electronic control unit for the door lock control, the side area illumination control and the side area watching control as a matter of software. Therefore, such a door lock control portion, such a side area illumination control portion and such a side area watching control portion are connected with one another in the electronic control unit 28 so as to give and take the necessary information therebetween.
  • the door lock control portion of the electronic control unit (ECU) 28 operates based upon a signal from the door lock releasing device 36 like the smart key so as to release the door locking device 38 when the driver places his/her hand on the door grip, and apart from such an operation, the door lock control portion also sends a signal to the side area illumination control portion when it is sensed that the door lock releasing device 38 has approached the vehicle, so that the side area illumination control portion puts on the side area illumination lamp 12 s for a certain time duration.
  • the side area illumination control portion is supplied with a signal with regard to the brightness of environment of the vehicle from the brightness sensor 32 , and when it is sensed by the brightness sensor 32 that the brightness of environment of the vehicle is above a certain level, the side area illumination control portion does not put on the side area illumination lamps 12 regardless of the signal from the door lock control portion.
  • the camera switch 30 is to change over the side area watching camera 14 between on and off states according to a manipulation of the driver, wherein the side area watching control portion of the electronic control unit (ECU) 28 is supplied with a signal from the camera switch 30 for putting on or off the side area watching cameras 14 and a signal from the vehicle speed sensor 34 with regard to whether the vehicle speed is less than a certain relatively low value.
  • the side area watching control portion puts on or off the side area watching camera 14 , and when it puts on the side area watching camera 14 , it dispatches a signal for demanding to putt on the side area illumination lamps 12 to the side area illumination control portion if the vehicle speed is less than the above-mentioned certain value.
  • the side area illumination control portion puts on the side area illumination lamps 12 based upon the signal for demanding to put on the side area illumination lamps 12 , provided that the brightness sensor 32 is not detecting that the brightness of environment of the vehicle is above a certain level, but does not put on the side area illumination lamps 12 regardless of the signal from the side area watching control portion if the brightness sensor 32 is detecting that the brightness of environment of the vehicle is above the certain level.
  • the side area illumination control portion puts on the side area illumination lamps 12 according to the signal from the door lock control portion or the side area watching control portion in different illumination patterns relative to the lapse of time such as shown in FIG. 4 .
  • the contrast between the illumination pattern of the foot area illumination and that of the side area watching illumination in changing the intensity of the illumination according to the lapse of time is shown in the figure as all three manners of change are incorporated in gradually increasing the intensity of the illumination after the start, then maintaining the intensity of the illumination at a constant level for a certain time duration, and then gradually decreasing the intensity of the illumination to zero, such that the constant level of the illumination of the side area watching illumination is made lower than that of the foot area illumination, the speed of gradually increasing the intensity of the illumination of the side area watching illumination is made slower than that of the foot area illumination, and the speed of gradually decreasing the intensity of the illumination of the side area watching illumination is made quicker than that of the foot area illumination.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the manner of controlling the putting on of the side area illumination lamps 12 by the above-mentioned construction in the form of an embodiment.
  • the control according to such a flowchart may be repeated in the electronic control unit (ECU) 28 at a cycle time such as tens of millisecond throughout the period when the power source of the vehicle is made on.
  • ECU electronice control unit
  • step (S) 10 it is judged if the ignition switch is on or not.
  • the answer is no (N), and then the control proceeds to step 20 .
  • step 20 it is judged if a flag Fa is 1 or not.
  • the flag Fa is set to 1 when it is detected in the next step 30 that the smart key has approached the vehicle from the outside thereof, and is reset to 0 when the side area illumination lamp is put off in step 120 described later.
  • the flag Fa is being reset to 0. Therefore, when the vehicle is being parked, the answer of step 20 is no until the following steps 30 and 50 are executed, and therefore, until then the control proceeds to step 30 .
  • step 30 it is judged if the smart key has approached the vehicle or not. As long as the answer is no, the control proceeds to step 40 .
  • step 40 it is judged if the door was opened from the closed state or not.
  • step 30 when the smart key has approached the vehicle, the answer of step 30 becomes yes (Y), and therefore the control proceeds to step 50 , and the flag Fa is set to 1, while a flag Fb described later is reset to 0.
  • the control proceeds to step 60 , and a flag Fc described later is set to 1.
  • the above steps 20 - 60 are to detect that the smart key has approached the vehicle parked with the ignition switch being off, or the door was opened with the ignition switch being off after the vehicle has been stopped or parked.
  • the control proceeds to step 70 after having set the flag Fc to 1, and the side area illumination lamp is put on, provided that the brightness of environment of the vehicle detected by the brightness sensor 32 is not above a certain level, while if it is above the certain level, the side area illumination lamp is not put on.
  • step 80 the control proceeds to step 80 , and it is judged if the flag Fb is 1 or not. Since the flag Fb is reset to 0 in step 50 as described above, while it is set to 1 in step 130 described later, the answer at this time is no, and the control proceeds to step 90 , where it is judged if the ignition switch was turned over from off to on. Since it takes a time for the driver to open the door and sit on the driver's seat, the answer does not become yes for a while, and therefore in the meantime the control proceeds to step 100 , where it is judged if the flag Fc is 1 or not. When the control came here through step 50 by the smart key having approached the vehicle, the flag Fc is being set to 1 through step 60 , and therefore the answer is yes.
  • step 110 it is judged if the certain time duration for temporarily putting on the side area illumination lamp for illuminating a foot area of the driver has elapsed or not. The answer is no for a while, and in the meantime the control returns from here to step 10 , so that the control circulates through steps 70 , 80 , 90 , 100 and 110 .
  • the control proceeds to 120 , and the side area illumination lamp is put off.
  • the flag Fa is reset to 0.
  • step 90 the control proceeds from step 90 to step 130 , where the flag Fb is set to 1.
  • step 10 After the driving of the vehicle has started with the ignition switch being made on, the answer of step 10 is yes, and thereafter the control proceeds to step 140 .
  • step 140 it is judged if the side area watching camera is on (operating) or not. When the answer is no, the control proceeds directly to step 120 , while the side area illumination lamp is kept in the off state.
  • step 150 the control proceeds to step 150 , and it is judged if the vehicle speed is less than a certain low threshold speed such as, for example, 10 km/h.
  • a certain low threshold speed such as, for example, 10 km/h.
  • step 140 when the answer of step 140 is yes and the answer of step 150 is also yes, the control proceeds to step 160 , where the flag Fc is reset to 0, and the control starts to proceed to step 70 . Then the control proceeds to step 80 , where at this time the flag Fb is being set to 1, and therefore the control bypasses step 90 , and further, since the flag Fc is being reset to 0, the answer of step 100 is no, and therefore the control bypasses step 110 to re-circulate. Therefore, while the vehicle is being driven, when the side area watching camera is made on, the side area illumination lamp is continuously made on when the vehicle speed has lowered to be less than e.g.
  • the control proceeds to step 120 , and the side area illumination lamp is put off.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Lighting Device Outwards From Vehicle And Optical Signal (AREA)
US13/521,107 2011-09-28 2011-09-28 Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof Abandoned US20140218521A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/JP2011/072189 WO2013046358A1 (fr) 2011-09-28 2011-09-28 Véhicule comprenant des moyens de reconnaissance visuelle/d'éclairage de région latérale de véhicule

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PCT/JP2011/072189 A-371-Of-International WO2013046358A1 (fr) 2011-09-28 2011-09-28 Véhicule comprenant des moyens de reconnaissance visuelle/d'éclairage de région latérale de véhicule

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US15/174,163 Continuation US9834132B2 (en) 2011-09-28 2016-06-06 Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof

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US13/521,107 Abandoned US20140218521A1 (en) 2011-09-28 2011-09-28 Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof
US15/174,163 Active US9834132B2 (en) 2011-09-28 2016-06-06 Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof

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US (2) US20140218521A1 (fr)
EP (1) EP2762360B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP5327392B1 (fr)
CN (1) CN103813941B (fr)
WO (1) WO2013046358A1 (fr)

Cited By (16)

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US20130120130A1 (en) * 2011-11-14 2013-05-16 Hyundai Motor Company Passenger protection apparatus using graphic light projection and method thereof
US20160280126A1 (en) * 2011-09-28 2016-09-29 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha Vehicle equipped with means for illuminating/watching a side area thereof
EP3109844A1 (fr) * 2015-06-23 2016-12-28 Volvo Car Corporation Dispositif de détection d'objet
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EP2762360B1 (fr) 2017-04-12
JP5327392B1 (ja) 2013-10-30
EP2762360A1 (fr) 2014-08-06
JPWO2013046358A1 (ja) 2015-03-26
US20160280126A1 (en) 2016-09-29
WO2013046358A1 (fr) 2013-04-04
CN103813941B (zh) 2016-02-24
US9834132B2 (en) 2017-12-05
EP2762360A4 (fr) 2016-01-06

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