JPH08241499A - Rear and side collision alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily confirm the following vehicle on an adjacent traffic lane by providing an irradiating means, which irradiates the rear of a vehicle from the side with light, and a light reception means which receives reflected light of this light from the following vehicle. CONSTITUTION: A rear side collision alarm device 10 attached under a side mirror 5 is provided with a light irradiation part 11 as the irradiating means which irradiates the rear of the vehicle with laser light. A light reception part 12 as the light reception means which receives the reflected light of laser light emitted from the light irradiation part 1 is provided under the light irradiation part 11. A distance display part 13a and an alarm lamp 13c as first alarm means are provided above the light irradiation part 11. The distance from the vehicle to the following vehicle is displayed on the distance display part 13a. The alarm lamp 13c is lit when the following vehicle exists just beside the vehicle or on the rear side. A danger degree display part 13b on which the degree of danger for the change of the traffic lane is displayed is provided as a second alarm means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rear side collision preventive device for improving safety when changing lanes.
The present invention relates to a rear side collision avoidance device that assists a rear side field of view when changing lanes, calculates a relative speed with a following vehicle, and facilitates ensuring safety when changing lanes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when changing lanes, first of all,
The rear view is checked by the room mirror and the door mirror, and then the road condition on the lane change side is visually checked before proceeding.

[0003]

However, even if such a confirmation is made, the presence of the blind spots in the rearview mirror and the door mirror, and the presence of the blind spots inevitably generated due to the structure of the automobile, cause the lane change It is difficult to make a complete rearward confirmation, and in addition, when changing lanes, quick confirmation is required, which makes the confirmation more difficult.

Since there are few opportunities to change lanes on a road with little traffic, it can be said that this confirmation work does not impose a burden on driving. Recently, however, the number of lanes has increased with an increase in traffic and lane changes have been made. As a result, the number of traffic accidents that accompany lane changes is increasing.

Under such circumstances, if there is a device for assisting blind spots such as door mirrors, the burden of rearward confirmation when changing lanes should be reduced, and the occurrence of traffic accidents due to changing lanes should be reduced. Is.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a rear side collision preventive device which reduces the burden of rearward confirmation when changing lanes and facilitates ensuring safety when changing lanes.

[0007]

The present invention for achieving the above object has the following constitution.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided irradiation means for irradiating light from a side of the vehicle to a certain area behind the vehicle,
Light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the light from the following vehicle is attached to the side of the vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect of the invention, a distance calculation means for calculating a distance between vehicles based on the irradiation signal of the irradiation means and the light reception signal of the light receiving means. And a first alarming means for issuing an alarm if necessary based on the calculation result of the distance calculating means.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the invention of claim 2, the distance between the vehicles previously calculated by the distance calculating means, the distance between the vehicles calculated this time, and the distance. Relative speed calculation means for calculating the relative speed between vehicles from the calculated time interval, distance between vehicles calculated this time by the distance calculation means, and relative speed between vehicles calculated by the relative speed calculation means It is characterized by further comprising a judging means for judging the danger degree of the lane change from the above and a second warning means for giving a warning based on the judgment result by the judging means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, each of the first alarm means and the second alarm means of the second or third aspect is attached to a side portion of the vehicle which is visible from the driver's seat. It is what

In the invention described in claim 5, claim 1
Alternatively, the vehicle side portion of claim 4 is an outer peripheral portion of a side mirror.

[0013]

The rear side collision warning device of the present invention constructed as described above operates as follows. According to the first aspect of the invention, the irradiation means for irradiating a certain range from the side of the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle and the light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the light from the following vehicle are attached to the side portion of the vehicle. .

Therefore, the irradiating means is the rear side of the vehicle,
Alternatively, the light can be emitted toward the vehicle traveling behind the adjacent lane, and the light receiving means can receive the reflected light from the vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the distance calculation means calculates the distance between the vehicles based on the irradiation signal of the irradiation means and the light reception signal of the light receiving means, and based on the calculation result of the distance calculation means. Since the 1 alarm means gives an alarm, even if a following vehicle is in the blind spot of the side mirror, the presence of the vehicle can be grasped and the collision can be avoided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the distance between the vehicles previously calculated by the distance calculation means and the distance between the vehicles calculated this time by the relative speed calculation means, and the time interval at which the distance calculation is performed. The relative speed between vehicles is calculated from the vehicle speed, and the risk of lane change is calculated by the determination means from the distance between vehicles calculated this time by the distance calculation means and the relative speed between vehicles calculated by the relative speed calculation means. The warning is given by the second warning means based on the result of the decision made by the decision means. Therefore, the possibility of the rear-end collision of the following vehicle can be easily grasped by the warning, and the collision can be avoided. Will be able to.

In the invention of claim 4, the first alarm means, the second
Since each of the warning means is attached to the side of the vehicle that is visible from the driver's seat, the warning can be easily confirmed.

In a fifth aspect of the present invention, the irradiation means for irradiating a certain range from the side of the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle, the light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the light from the following vehicle, the first alarm means, and the second alarm means. Since each of the warning means is attached to the outer periphery of the side mirror, it is possible to check the warning while checking the rear side with the side mirror when changing lanes, and to reduce the driver's burden when changing lanes as much as possible. Will be able to.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a side mirror incorporating a rear side collision warning device according to the present invention. The device of the present invention makes it possible to easily recognize the presence of an automobile running beside or behind a vehicle and the presence of a two-wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle or a motorcycle. It is a device that can assist in determining whether it is safe to change lanes based on the speed of the own vehicle, in order to assist in safely changing lanes, turning right or left, etc. Device.

Although side mirrors 5 are attached to both sides of the vehicle, the rear side collision warning device 10 of the present invention is built in below the side mirrors 5. In addition, in this embodiment, the rear side collision warning device 10 is attached to the lower side of the side mirror 5 which is a visible side portion of the vehicle, but may be attached to the upper side or the side of the side mirror 5. Further, the rear side collision warning device 10 is not only manufactured as an integrated unit with the side mirror 5, but is also manufactured only as a single unit, and the rear side collision alarm device 10 is manufactured as a single unit.
It may be added later.

The rear side collision warning device 10 is provided with a light irradiating section 11 as an irradiating means for irradiating a laser beam toward the rear of the vehicle, from which an infrared laser beam with an output of about 30 W is emitted. Irradiation is performed in 6 directions from the rear to the side at an angle. Of the laser light emitted in 6 directions, 4 directions emitted laterally are used as blind spot assistance, and the other 2 directions are used as rear-end collision prevention.

Further, the light receiving portion 1 as a light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the laser light output from the light emitting portion 11.
2 is provided below the light irradiation unit 11. The reflected light is from an obstacle existing laterally from the rear, but mainly the one caused by the vehicle is discriminated.

The light irradiating section 11 and the light receiving section 12 may be any side of the vehicle that is capable of irradiating a vehicle positioned behind and to the side of the vehicle with laser light and receiving the reflected light. You may attach it in the position.

The upper part of the light irradiation section 11 has a first
A distance display section 13a and an alarm lamp 13c which function as an alarm means are provided. In this distance display section 13a,
The distance between the following vehicle and your vehicle is displayed, and the warning lamp 13
Reference character c is a lamp that is turned on when a following vehicle is present just next to or behind the host vehicle. Further, the risk degree display unit 13b functioning as a second warning means displays the risk degree of lane change calculated from the distance between the following vehicle and the own vehicle and the relative speed, and according to the risk degree. The three LEDs are lit by changing colors in the order of green, yellow, and red, for example. Alternatively, the number of LEDs to be turned on may be changed according to the degree of danger.

The distance display portion 13a and the risk degree display portion 13
b, the alarm lamp 13c seems to be most effective to be attached to the side mirror 5 as shown in the present embodiment, but it is a position other than this position as long as it is visible on the side of the vehicle. May be For example, in the vehicle side portion in the vehicle compartment, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to consider the waterproof property and the weather resistance of the device 10. In addition to this display, a sound source that emits an alarm sound may be installed in the vehicle compartment.
By doing so, it becomes possible to recognize the degree of danger both visually and auditorily.

Reference numeral 21 in the drawing denotes a main switch of the present device 10, and the present device is adapted to operate when the turn signal switch is on.

FIG. 2 shows a rear side collision warning device 10 of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of a control system of FIG.

The light irradiator 11 is a part for irradiating laser light, and the irradiation of laser light is controlled by the pulse driver 15. In other words, when the irradiation signal is output from the pulse driving unit 15, the laser light is emitted from the light emitting unit 11 only during that time.

This laser light is reflected by a reflecting plate (not shown) and then outputted toward the rear of the vehicle. The reflecting plate changes its reflection angle by the reflecting plate motor 16. It can be configured.
In this embodiment, four kinds of this angle are set. The rotation angle of the reflection plate motor 16 can be changed by a command from the irradiation plate drive unit 17.

The laser beam reflected by the following vehicle is incident on the light receiving section 12, but the light receiving section 1
A light receiving signal is output from 2 together with this incident.

The time / voltage converting section 18 is a section for converting the time difference between the irradiation signal output from the pulse driving section 15 and the light receiving signal output from the light receiving section 12 into a voltage and outputting the voltage. This voltage is digitally converted by the A / D conversion unit 19 and output to the arithmetic processing unit 20.

The own vehicle speed detecting section 25 outputs a voltage corresponding to the traveling speed of the vehicle, and this voltage is also digitally converted by the A / D converting section 19 and output to the arithmetic processing section 20.

The arithmetic processing section 20 is a section which functions as a distance calculating means, a relative speed calculating means, and a judging means. Since the time from the irradiation of the laser beam to the reception of the laser beam is input to the arithmetic processing unit 20, the distance to the following vehicle can be recognized based on this time and the speed of the laser beam. Further, the relative speed between the own vehicle and the following vehicle can be calculated by calculating the temporal change of the measured distance. Further, it is possible to judge whether the lane can be changed “safely” or “not possible” based on the relative speed and the distance to the following vehicle, as well as the speed of the own vehicle.

The presence / absence of the following vehicle, the distance to the following vehicle, and the degree of lane change risk calculated in this manner are displayed on the display unit 13.

4 to 9 are flow charts showing the operation of the rear side collision warning device.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear side collision warning device 1
0 starts operation when the turn signal is turned on.
Even in this case, the condition is that the main switch 21 is turned on (S1). When the device operates, the processing of two subroutine programs of a blind spot collision prevention subroutine and a course change collision prevention subroutine is started.

FIG. 5 shows a blind spot collision prevention subroutine program. This program is mainly for actively discovering the following vehicles (including all vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles) that are still in the blind spot even after visual confirmation of the rearview mirror, the side mirror and the rear. It is designed to operate for the purpose of, and of course, it also operates for the purpose of finding a following vehicle in an area that does not become a blind spot at all and calling attention to the course change.

When this program operates, the light irradiation unit 1
As shown in FIG. 3, infrared laser light is radiated from 1 in six directions from rear to side (S11). When the light receiving section 12 receives the reflected light of the laser light from the following vehicle (S12), the light receiving time is calculated for the laser light in the four directions, and the distances L1, L2, L3 to the obstacles are calculated.
L4 is calculated (S13). As a result of this calculation, when it is determined that there is a following vehicle within 4 m from the own vehicle by any of the laser beams (S14), the display unit 13
Is displayed. Specifically, the alarm lamp 13c is turned on and an alarm sound is output in the vehicle interior (S15).

Thus, the driver can easily recognize that there is a following vehicle near the own vehicle. In the above embodiment, the alarm is issued only within 4 m, but the alarm may be issued with a width such as within 4 m to 6 m or 4 m to 7 m.

6 to 9 show a course change collision prevention subroutine program. This program functions for the purpose of assisting the judgment as to whether or not the course can be changed safely based on the distance and relative speed to the following vehicle and the speed of the own vehicle.

When this program operates, the light irradiation unit 1
As shown in FIG. 3, infrared laser light is radiated from 1 in the six directions from the rear to the side (S21). When the reflected light of this laser light from the following vehicle is received by the light receiving unit 12 (S22), the light reception time is calculated for the laser light in the two directions, and the distances L5 and L6 to the obstacle are calculated (S23). . As a result of this calculation, when it is determined by any of the laser beams that the following vehicle is within 6 m from the own vehicle (S24), the display unit 13 is displayed. Specifically, the alarm lamp 13c is turned on and an alarm sound is output to the passenger compartment (S25).

With this, the driver can easily recognize that there is a following vehicle immediately behind the subject vehicle.
In the above embodiment, the alarm is issued only within 6 m, but the alarm may be issued with a width as described above.

On the other hand, the distances L5 and L6 to the obstacle are 6 m
If it is larger than 40 m and is shorter than 40 m (S26), the infrared laser light is irradiated again in 6 directions (S27). When the reflected light of this laser light from the following vehicle is received by the light receiving unit 12 (S28), the light receiving time is calculated for the laser light in the two directions, and the distances L25 and L2 to the obstacle are calculated.
6 is calculated (S29). Next, the differences L5-L25 and L6-L26 between the distances L5 and L6 to the obstacle measured last time and the distances L25 and L26 to the obstacle measured this time are calculated (S30), and further calculated. The speed of the own vehicle and the relative speed of the following vehicle are calculated from the difference. This relative speed is calculated by dividing each of the obtained differences L5-L25 and L6-L26 by the time difference at which this calculation is performed (S31).

Next, the speed of the own vehicle is detected by the own vehicle speed detection unit 2
It is calculated based on the voltage from 5 (S32), and the recognized speed of the following vehicle is calculated from the calculated relative speed and the speed of the own vehicle (S33).

When the average acceleration of the host vehicle (preliminarily input for each vehicle type) is α, the time until the host vehicle and the following vehicle reach the same speed is calculated, and the following vehicle of this time is calculated. The moving distance and the moving distance of the own vehicle are obtained (S34,
S35). Furthermore, the sum of the calculated travel distance of the own vehicle and the measured inter-vehicle distance with the following vehicle is greater than or less than the sum of the travel distance of the following vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance (distance that can be safely stopped at that speed). Or not (S36, S3
7) Since it is possible to safely change the course if the distance is large, only the distance to the following vehicle is displayed on the distance display section 13a of the display section 13 and the display that the lane change is dangerous is not displayed. On the other hand, if it is small, it will not be possible to change lanes safely, so in this case, what is the distance between vehicles that will be finally secured when changing lanes? Is displayed on the risk degree display portion 13b, and an alarm sound is output to the vehicle interior. The display of the display unit 13b is such that the color of the lamp is changed in the order of green, yellow, and red according to the degree of danger that is recognized. Further, the sound quality and volume of the alarm sound may be changed according to the degree of danger (S38).

As described above, according to the present invention, the safety confirmation at the time of changing lanes can be extremely easily performed, and the possibility of traffic jam due to changing lanes can be reduced. As a whole, it becomes possible to reduce the causes of traffic accidents.

[0048]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects for each claim.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vehicle side portion is provided with the irradiation means for irradiating light in a certain range from the side to the rear of the vehicle and the light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the light from the following vehicle. Since it is attached to the vehicle, it is possible to irradiate light to the vehicle traveling behind and behind the vehicle or behind the adjacent lane, while receiving the reflected light from this vehicle. It becomes possible to check the following vehicles on the lane side.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the distance between the vehicles is calculated based on the irradiation signal of the irradiation means and the light reception signal of the light receiving means, and the first alarm means is caused to give an alarm based on the calculation result. Therefore, even when the following vehicle is in the blind spot of the side mirror, the presence of the vehicle can be recognized and the collision can be avoided.

According to the structure of claim 3, the distance between the vehicles previously calculated by the distance calculating means, the distance between the vehicles calculated this time, and the relative speed between the vehicles from the time interval at which the distance calculation is performed. Is calculated, and the risk of lane change is determined from the distance between the vehicles calculated this time and the relative speed between the vehicles calculated by the relative speed calculation means.
Since the warning is given by the second warning means based on this judgment result, the possibility of a rear-end collision of the following vehicle can be easily grasped by this warning, and the collision can be avoided.

According to the structure of claim 4, the first alarm means,
Since each of the second warning means is attached to the side portion of the vehicle that is visible from the driver's seat, the warning can be easily confirmed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the irradiation means for irradiating a certain range from the side of the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle, the light receiving means for receiving the reflected light of the light from the following vehicle, the first alarm means, Since each of the second warning means is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the side mirror, it is possible to check the warning while checking the rear side with the side mirror when changing lanes, and to reduce the driver's burden when changing lanes as much as possible. Will be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of a control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the control system of the rear side collision warning device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 ... Side mirror, 10 ... Rear side collision warning device, 11 ... Light irradiation part, 12 ... Light receiving part, 13 ... Display part, 13a ... Distance display part, 13b ... Danger degree display part, 13c ... Warning lamp, 21 ... main switch.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 7, 1995

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG.

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 9]

[Figure 8]

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A radiating means for radiating light to a certain range from a side of a vehicle to a rear side, and a light receiving means for receiving reflected light of the light from a following vehicle are attached to a side portion of the vehicle. Rear side collision warning device. 2. A distance calculation means for calculating a distance between vehicles on the basis of an irradiation signal of the irradiation means and a light reception signal of the light receiving means, and an alarm if necessary based on a calculation result of the distance calculation means. The rear side collision warning device according to claim 1, further comprising a first warning means for performing. 3. A relative speed calculation for calculating a relative speed between vehicles from a distance between vehicles previously calculated by the distance calculation means, a distance between vehicles calculated this time, and a time interval at which the distance calculation is performed. Means, a judging means for judging the lane change risk from the distance between the vehicles calculated this time by the distance calculating means and the relative speed between the vehicles calculated by the relative speed calculating means, and a judgment by the judging means. Second to give an alarm based on the result
The rear side collision warning device according to claim 2, further comprising warning means. 4. The rear side according to claim 2, wherein each of the first warning means and the second warning means is attached to a side portion of the vehicle which is visible from a driver's seat. One-way collision warning device. 5. The rear side collision warning device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the vehicle side portion is an outer peripheral portion of a side mirror.