Vehicle control device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10077058-B2
Application number	US-201715424143-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2017
Priority date	Mar 30, 2016
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle control device that includes: an airbag device including an airbag, the airbag being configured as an integral bag body for surrounding a head of an occupant with a front deployment section including a front inflation section that is inflated and deployed in front of a seat corresponding to the head and at least one of shoulders or a chest of the occupant, and a left and right pair of lateral deployment sections including lateral inflation sections that are connected to the front deployment section and are inflated and deployed at sides of the head of the occupant; and a controller that, after the airbag device has been actuated, executes a drive-to-refuge mode in which driving of a power unit of a vehicle and steering of a steering system are controlled to drive the vehicle to take refuge at a road shoulder.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle control device comprising:
an airbag device including an airbag that is inflated and deployed from a state of being stowed in a headrest or a seatback of a vehicle seat on receiving gas supplied by an inflator, the airbag being configured as an integral bag body for surrounding a head of an occupant with a front deployment section including a front inflation section that is inflated and deployed in front of a seat corresponding to the head and at least one of shoulders or a chest of the occupant, and a left and right pair of lateral deployment sections including lateral inflation sections that are connected to the front deployment section and are inflated and deployed at sides of the head of the occupant;
an onboard camera that images surroundings of the vehicle;
a storage section that stores images captured by the onboard camera; and
an electronic control unit configured to, after the airbag device has been actuated, execute a drive-to-refuge mode in which driving of a power unit of a vehicle and steering of a steering system are controlled to drive the vehicle to take refuge at a road shoulder,
wherein the electronic control unit executes the drive-to-refuge mode based on an image captured by the onboard camera in a case in which the onboard camera is capable of operating, and
the electronic control unit executes the drive-to-refuge mode based on image data, from directly prior to a collision, that is stored in the storage section in a case in which the onboard camera has been damaged during the collision of the vehicle.

2. The vehicle control device of claim 1 , further comprising
a notification device that notifies the occupant by audio that the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed in a case in which the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed by the electronic control unit.

3. A vehicle control method comprising:
storing images captured by an onboard camera that images surroundings of the vehicle in a storage section; and
after actuating an airbag device including an airbag that is inflated and deployed from a state of being stowed in a headrest or a seatback of a vehicle seat on receiving gas supplied by an inflator, the airbag being configured as an integral bag body for surrounding a head of an occupant with a front deployment section including a front inflation section that is inflated and deployed in front of a seat corresponding to the head and at least one of shoulders or a chest of the occupant, and a left and right pair of lateral deployment sections including lateral inflation sections that are connected to the front deployment section and are inflated and deployed at sides of the head of the occupant, executing a drive-to-refuge mode in which driving of a power unit of a vehicle and steering of a steering system are controlled and the vehicle is driven to take refuge at a road shoulder,
wherein the drive-to-refuge mode is executed based on an image captured by the onboard camera in a case in which the onboard camera is capable of operating; and
wherein the drive-to-refuge mode is executed based on image data, from directly prior to a collision, that is stored in the storage section in a case in which the onboard camera has been damaged during the collision of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle control method of claim 3 , wherein
in a case in which the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed, the occupant is notified by audio that the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed.

5. A non-transitory recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute a vehicle control process, the process comprising:
storing images captured by an onboard camera that images surroundings of the vehicle in a storage section; and
after actuating an airbag device including an airbag that is inflated and deployed from a state of being stowed in a headrest or a seatback of a vehicle seat on receiving gas supplied by an inflator, the airbag being configured as an integral bag body for surrounding a head of an occupant with a front deployment section including a front inflation section that is inflated and deployed in front of a seat corresponding to the head and at least one of shoulders or a chest of the occupant, and a left and right pair of lateral deployment sections including lateral inflation sections that are connected to the front deployment section and are inflated and deployed at sides of the head of the occupant, executing a drive-to-refuge mode in which driving of a power unit of a vehicle and steering of a steering system are controlled and the vehicle is driven to take refuge at a road shoulder,
wherein the drive-to-refuge mode is executed based on an image captured by the onboard camera in a case in which the onboard camera is capable of operating; and
wherein the drive-to-refuge mode is executed based on image data, from directly prior to a collision, that is stored in the storage section in a case in which the onboard camera has been damaged during the collision of the vehicle.

6. The non-transitory recording medium of claim 5 , wherein:
in a case in which the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed, the occupant is notified by audio that the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed.

7. A vehicle control device comprising:
a display device;
an airbag device including an airbag that is inflated and deployed from a state of being stowed in a headrest or a seatback of a vehicle seat on receiving gas supplied by an inflator, the airbag being configured as an integral bag body for surrounding a head of an occupant with a front deployment section including a front inflation section that is inflated and deployed in front of a seat corresponding to the head and at least one of shoulders or a chest of the occupant, and a left and right pair of lateral deployment sections including lateral inflation sections that are connected to the front deployment section and are inflated and deployed at sides of the head of the occupant; and
an electronic control unit configured to determine whether a power unit of a vehicle and a steering system are operating normally after actuating the airbag device,
the electronic control unit is configured to, after the airbag device has been actuated, execute a drive-to-refuge mode in which driving of the power unit of the vehicle and steering of the steering system are controlled to drive the vehicle to take refuge at a road shoulder when it is determined that the power unit of the vehicle and the steering system are operating normally,
the electronic control unit is configured to control the display device to display a warning that the vehicle has stopped in a case in which the electronic control unit determines that the power unit or the steering system does not operate normally after actuating the airbag device.

8. The vehicle control device of claim 7 , further comprising:
an onboard camera that images surroundings of the vehicle; and
a storage section that stores images captured by the onboard camera,
wherein the electronic control unit executes the drive-to-refuge mode based on an image captured by the onboard camera in a case in which the onboard camera is capable of operating, and
the electronic control unit executes the drive-to-refuge mode based on image data, from directly prior to a collision, that is stored in the storage section in a case in which the onboard camera has been damaged during the collision of the vehicle.

9. The vehicle control device of claim 7 , further comprising
a notification device that notifies the occupant by audio that the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed in a case in which the drive-to-refuge mode has been executed by the controller.

10. A vehicle control method comprising:
after actuating

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohmi Masanobu
• Yamamoto Seiji
• Sakakibara Kosuke
• Sugie Kazuki
• Kinoshita Misato
• Matsumura Yoshiaki

Classifications

• B60W2050/143

  Alarm means · CPC title

• G05D1/0055

  with safety arrangements · CPC title

• B60W10/04

  including control of propulsion units · CPC title

• G05D1/0246

  using a video camera in combination with image processing means · CPC title

• B60W2030/082

  Vehicle operation after collision · CPC title