JP3019438B2 - Remote switch device for vehicle electrical equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote switch device for vehicle electrical equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electrical equipment for vehicles includes, for example, headlamps, wipers, turn signals, hazard lamps, air conditioners, radios, audio devices, and the like. Generally, these switches are provided on the front of an instrument panel. Confirmation, and then reaching, operating, and starting, stopping, or adjusting. Therefore, when operating these switches while driving, the driver must turn his / her gaze away from the front, must release one hand from the steering wheel, and furthermore, the switch must be located far from the steering wheel. In such a case, the vehicle cannot be operated without breaking the driving posture. Therefore, it is extremely inconvenient to operate these switches together with the operation of the steering wheel, especially when a driver with one hand is incapable of driving. From such a background, there has been a demand for a remote switch device that does not require the user to directly switch the electronic devices for a vehicle.

Conventionally, as an example in which a vehicle device can be automatically adjusted without manual operation, there is known an example as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.
1-4-1903 gazette). By recognizing the position of the driver's eyes, the angle of the rearview mirror 2, the air-conditioned air outlet 3, or the steering wheel 4 can be automatically adjusted to an appropriate position.
Specifically, a light emitting unit 6 for irradiating the driver 1 in front of the passenger seat side of the instrument panel 5 and a reflected light from the driver 1 by the irradiation of the light emitting unit 6 are used as image data for the face of the driver 1 as image data. Image detecting means 7 for detecting the detected image data, and detecting the two specific points of the driver's face in the detected image data by the specific point position detecting means 8 and detecting the detected two specific points. The three-dimensional position of the driver's eyes is calculated by the eye position calculating means 9 as a parameter, whereby the position of the eyes is accurately recognized, and the above devices are automatically adjusted.

[0004]

However, as described above, differences in body movement and the like are detected as an image, and based on the detected image, the switches of the electrical equipment are automatically turned on and off. It is difficult to identify small movements of fingers and fingers as images, and if these movements are out of the position of the image detection unit such as a camera, or if they are hidden behind the shadow of an object such as a steering wheel, it will be accurate. There is a problem that images cannot be recognized.

Therefore, a technical problem of the present invention is to increase the certainty of remote control of the switches of the vehicle electrical equipment, thereby making it cumbersome to operate the switches by hand and driving by one handicapped person. The point is to eliminate the inconvenience when doing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides a glove into which a driver's hand is inserted, and a finger which is disposed in a finger bag portion of the glove and inserted into the glove. Angle detection means 10 for detecting an angle of a joint, detection signal transmission means 11 mounted on the glove side and transmitting a detection signal when the angle detection means detects a predetermined angle, and an instrument panel of the vehicle. Provided on the side,
The detection signal receiving means 12 for receiving the detection signal, and comparing the received detection signal with a preset setting signal having a different pattern for each electrical device and determining that the detection signal and the setting signal match. A remote switch device for vehicular electrical equipment includes a determining means 13 for outputting a command signal when it is determined, and a driving means 14 for driving the electrical equipment based on the command signal from the determining means 13.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned means, it is detected by the angle detecting means that the driver bends or stretches the finger to the prescribed angle, and after this detection signal is received by the electrical equipment side, it is set in the determining means in advance. A comparison is made with a setting signal having a different pattern for each electrical device, and when both match, a command signal is output, and a driving means of each electrical device is commanded to operate the electrical device.

[0008]

FIG. 2 shows a case where a hazard lamp 15, a wiper device 16, and a headlamp 17 are used as electrical equipment for a vehicle, and the remote switch device of the present invention is applied to on / off switch operations of these equipment. . In this figure,
Reference numeral 10 denotes a glove as an angle detecting means for detecting an angle of a finger when the driver fits on the hand, 11 denotes a detection signal transmitting means attached to a fitting opening of the glove, and 12 denotes an instrument panel near the base of the steering wheel 4. 5 is a detection signal receiving means. The detection signal transmitting means 11 is an oscillator, and oscillates a detection signal to a detection signal receiving means 12 provided at a position facing the detection signal from the angle detection means 10. Reference numeral 13 denotes a judgment unit, and reference numeral 18 denotes an external clock position of the judgment unit. The judging means 13 compares the detection signal received by the detection signal receiving means 12 with a preset setting signal of an ON / OFF command having a different pattern for each of the electrical equipments 15, 16 and 17 and determines that they match. When it is determined, the driving means 1
3, which outputs a command signal to any one of the hazard lamp driving means 13a, the wiper device driving means 13b, and the head lamp driving means 13c. Each driving means 1
The manual switches 19, 20, and 21 of the electrical devices 15, 16, and 17 provided on the front of the instrument panel 5 are connected to 3a, 13b, and 13c, respectively, so that the switches can be manually operated. . In FIG. 2, reference numeral 22 denotes a display unit which is turned on when a detection signal from the angle detection unit 10 and a setting signal from the determination unit 13 match.

The above-mentioned glove 10 is, for example, one set of both a right-hand glove and a left-hand glove.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, strain gauges 2 provided in each of the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger bags 23, 24, and 25, respectively.
6, 27 and 28, the angle θ of the second joint 29 is detected. Both ends of the strain gauges 26, 27, 28 are holding members 30.
a and 30b, and is connected to the detection signal transmitting means 11 by a wiring 31. 2nd joint 29
In the detection of the angle θ, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is set in advance to detect the state of “elongation” when 0 to 5 °, the state of “neutral” when θ = 5 to 55 °, and the state of “bending” when θ = 55 ° or more. deep. Then, these states are combined with various patterns as shown in FIGS.
A signal for setting the operation start condition and the operation stop condition of No. 17 is provided. That is, the ON / OFF command of the hazard lamp 15 is set in advance so as to be output when "extension" of the left and right index and middle fingers and "bend" of the ring finger are detected as shown in FIG. Further, in the case of the wiper device 16, as shown in FIG.
After detecting that the "bending" of the middle finger and the third finger is held for N seconds, for example, 1.5 seconds or more, then, as shown in FIG. The head lamp 17 is set to output when it detects that the other is in the "bending" state. In the case of the headlamp 17, as shown in FIG. As in the case of the device 16, it is detected that the left and right forefingers are held “extended” and the middle finger and the third finger are held “bent” for N seconds or more. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. It is set in advance so that an ON / OFF command is issued when "extension" of the middle finger, the index finger of the left hand, and "bending" of the other fingers are detected. The command signal output from the judging means 13 is an off signal when the electrical equipment is in an operating state, and is an on signal when the electrical equipment is in a stopped state.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the judgment means 13. In this embodiment, the cycle of the external clock is 50 msec. First, the apparatus starts to operate and starts counting in step 100, and at the same time, sets a flag 0 (step 101). After synchronization with the external clock in step 102, the angles of the index finger, middle finger and ring finger of the left and right hands are input (step 103). At this time, it is determined whether or not the flag has changed to 1 (step 1).
04) If it has not changed, it is determined whether or not the state of the finger matches the setting condition shown in FIG. 6 (step 105). If it is determined that the condition of FIG. 6 is met, a command to turn on or off the hazard lamp is output to the driving means (step 106). On the other hand, when the state of the finger does not match the condition shown in FIG. 6, the process proceeds to step 107, where the comparison is made with the condition of FIG. No, that is, whether the state has continued for 1.5 seconds or more (step 108).
If it is continued, the flag is set to 1 (step 109), and the display means is activated (step 1).
10) After informing the driver that the next operation can be performed, the process returns to step 102. In step 103, the angle of the finger detected by the angle detecting means 10 is input again, and the process reaches step 111 through step 104.
It is determined again whether or not the state of the finger matches the setting condition of FIG. When it is determined that the condition does not match the condition of FIG. 7A, the display means is stopped (step 11).
2) Then, comparison is made with the setting condition of FIG. 7B (step 113). If they match, an on or off command signal is output to the wiper driving device (step 114). If they do not match, the flow advances to step 115 to change the state of the finger to the condition shown in FIG. Is determined. When it is determined that they match, an ON or OFF command signal is output to the headlamp driving device (step 116).

In this embodiment, the remote control of the ON / OFF command of the hazard lamp, the wiper, and the headlamp has been described, but not only the ON / OFF command of the turn signal, the air conditioner, the radio, and the audio device, but also the angle of the turn signal. Remote control for adjustment and volume adjustment of radio and audio devices is also possible.

[0012]

As described above, according to the remote switch device for vehicular electrical equipment according to the present invention, the vehicle is operated by combining basic operations such as "bending" and "extension" of the finger of the driver's hand. Since the instruction signal is used to operate the electrical equipment for the user, the remote switch operation can be performed with high reliability while being a simple operation for the driver. Further, since the image range is not limited as in the conventional image processing means, the position of the hand is not limited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the means of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a glove serving as an angle detection unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state where an angle is detected by bending a glove.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a difference in setting conditions depending on a bending angle of a finger.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a setting condition of ON / OFF of a hazard lamp in a determination unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a setting condition of on / off of a wiper in a determination unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a setting condition of on / off of a headlamp in a judgment means.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a flowchart of a judgment means.

FIG. 10 is a diagram around a driver's seat showing an example of a conventional image detecting means.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional automatic adjustment device using an image detection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Angle detection means 11 Detection signal transmission means 12 Detection signal reception means 13 Judgment means 14 Driving means 15 Hazard lamp (Vehicle electrical equipment) 16 Wiper (Vehicle electrical equipment) 17 Headlamp (Vehicle electrical equipment)

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 16/02 630 H04Q 9/00 331

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A glove into which a driver's hand is inserted;
Located in the glove's finger pocket and inserted into the knuckle of the hand
An angle detecting means for detecting an angle, is mounted on the glove side, a detection signal transmission means for the angle detection means sends a detection signal when detecting a predetermined angle, it is provided on the instrument panel of the vehicle is the detection signal receiving means that will receive the detection signal, and the comparison and detection signals and setting signals a different setting signal of the pattern for each electrical equipment that is set in advance and the received detection signal A remote switch device for vehicular electrical equipment, comprising: determining means for outputting a command signal when it is determined that they match, and driving means for driving the electrical equipment based on the command signal from the determining means.