Vehicle periphery alert device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10150407-B2
Application number	US-201514637018-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2015
Priority date	Apr 20, 2011
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

Means to Solve the Problem
A vehicle periphery alert device is installed in a vehicle that operates when the vehicle starts to reverse from a parked state. The vehicle periphery alert device includes a detecting unit configured to detect a position and a movement direction of another vehicle behind the vehicle; an alert operation activating unit configured to perform a predetermined alert operation in the vehicle; and a control unit configured to set a virtual alert area behind the vehicle according to an angle formed by a movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another vehicle, and to activate the alert operation activating unit when a condition, including that the position of the another vehicle is in the alert area that has been set, is satisfied.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle periphery alert device installed in a vehicle that operates when the vehicle starts to reverse from a parked state, the vehicle periphery alert device comprising:
control circuitry programmed to set a virtual alert line extending behind the vehicle from a side edge part of the vehicle, and to activate a sound emitting device when it is determined that another vehicle will cross the alert line within a predetermined time, the virtual alert line remaining straight while an angle formed by trajectories of the vehicle and the another vehicle changes, wherein
the control circuitry is further programmed to extend and contract the alert line according to an angle formed by a movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another vehicle, and
the control circuitry is further programmed to set the alert line so that the alert line continuously increases as the angle formed by the movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another vehicle goes from 90 degrees to 180 degrees.

2. The vehicle periphery alert device according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further programmed to set a secondary virtual alert line extending alongside the vehicle from the side edge part of the vehicle and projecting in a direction opposite to that of the virtual alert line, the secondary virtual alert line terminating at a location flush with a location of a windshield of the vehicle.

3. A vehicle periphery alert device installed in a vehicle that operates when the vehicle starts to reverse from a parked state, the vehicle periphery alert device comprising:
control circuitry programmed to set a virtual alert line extending behind the vehicle from a side edge part of the vehicle, and to activate a sound emitting device when it is determined that another vehicle will cross the alert line within a predetermined time, the virtual alert line remaining straight while an angle formed by trajectories of the vehicle and the another vehicle changes, wherein
the control circuitry is further programmed to extend and contract the alert line according to an angle formed by a movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another vehicle, and
the control circuitry is further programmed to set the alert line so that the alert line continuously decreases as the angle formed by the movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another goes to 90 degrees.

4. The vehicle periphery alert device according to claim 1 , wherein the maximum length of the alert line is determined according to the angle formed by the movement direction of the vehicle and the movement direction of the another vehicle.

5. The vehicle periphery alert device according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further programmed to set the alert line so that the alert line is constant when the angle is between 0 degrees and 90 degrees.

6. The vehicle periphery alert device according to claim 3 , wherein the control circuitry is further programmed to set the alert line so that the alert line continuously decreases as the angle goes from 0 degrees to 90 degrees and the alert line continuously increases as the angle goes from 90 degrees to 180 degrees.

7. The vehicle periphery alert device according to claim 3 , wherein the control circuitry is further programmed to set a secondary virtual alert line extending alongside the vehicle from the side edge part of the vehicle and projecting in a direction opposite to that of the virtual alert line, the secondary virtual alert line terminating at a location flush with a location of a windshield of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takahashi Yoshihiko
• Kawasaki Tomoya
• Komoguchi Tetsuya

Classifications

• B60Q1/50 Primary

  for indicating other intentions or conditions, e.g. request for waiting or overtaking · CPC title

• G08G1/168

  Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space · CPC title

• G08G1/166 Primary

  for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes · CPC title

• B60Q1/507

  specific to autonomous vehicles · CPC title

• B60Q1/503

  using luminous text or symbol displays in or on the vehicle, e.g. static text · CPC title