Vehicle rear door control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10176368-B1
Application number	US-201715793312-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 25, 2017
Priority date	Oct 25, 2017
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

A rear door control system includes an electronic controller connected to a rear door movement device, a keyfob sensor array, a movement detection sensor, and a projector. The electronic controller determines whether or not a movement gesture made by the individual standing within a prescribed location relative to the rear door is a conforming gesture, and in response to determining that the movement gesture is a conforming gesture, the electronic controller operates the rear door movement device to open the rear door in further response to a determination that the authorized keyfob is present. As well, in response to determining that the movement gesture is not a conforming gesture, the electronic controller operates the projector to project an image indicating that the movement gesture is not a conforming gesture, leaving the rear door in the closed orientation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rear door control system, comprising:
a vehicle body structure having an opening and a rear door that is movable between a closed orientation covering the opening and an open orientation exposing the opening;
a rear door movement device configured to move the rear door between the closed orientation and the open orientation;
a keyfob sensor array installed to the vehicle body structure configured to detect proximity of an individual with an authorized keyfob;
a movement detection sensor installed to the vehicle body structure below the rear door, the movement detection sensor being configured to detect direction of movement of a movement gesture and detect distance of the movement from the movement detection sensor;
a projector installed to the vehicle body structure proximate the rear door and aimed to selectively project a plurality of images to a ground surface rearward of the vehicle body structure proximate the rear door, the plurality of images projected by the projector include images selected from at least the following group of images: an image indicating that the movement of the movement gesture did not include movement in a predetermined direction; or, the image indicating that the movement gesture did not include movement within a predetermined distance range from the movement detection sensor; and
an electronic controller connected to rear door movement device, the keyfob sensor array, the movement detection sensor, and the projector,
the electronic controller determining whether or not the authorized keyfob is present in response to signals from the keyfob sensor array;
the electronic controller determining whether or not the movement gesture made by the individual standing within a prescribed location relative to the rear door is a conforming gesture, where the conforming gesture includes the movement detection sensor detecting that the movement gesture beneath the rear door is in a predetermined direction and is within a predetermined distance range from the movement detection sensor, and in response to determining that the movement gesture is a conforming gesture, the electronic controller operating the rear door movement device to open the rear door in further response to a determination that the authorized keyfob is present,
in response to determining that the movement gesture is not a conforming gesture, the electronic controller determines whether or not the movement gesture was in the predetermined direction, and determines whether or not the movement gesture was within the predetermined distance range from the movement detection sensor, such that
in response to determining that the movement gesture did not include movement in the predetermined direction, the electronic controller operates the projector to project the image indicating that the movement gesture did not include movement in the predetermined direction, leaving the rear door in the closed orientation, and
in response to determining that the movement gesture was not within the predetermined distance range from the movement detection sensor, the electronic controller operates the projector to project the image indicating that the movement gesture did not include movement within the predetermined distance range from the movement detection sensor, leaving the rear door in the closed orientation.

2. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the movement detection sensor is configured to detect movement of the individual's foot or leg when detecting the movement gesture.

3. The rear door control system according to claim 2 , wherein
the movement detection sensor is configured to measure movement speed of the individual's foot or leg during the movement gesture.

4. The rear door control system according to claim 3 , wherein
the movement detection sensor is further configured to measure movement direction of the individual's foot or leg during the movement gesture.

5. The rear door control system according to claim 4 , further comprising:
the movement detection sensor includes a proximity sensor installed to the vehicle proximate the rear door, the proximity sensor being configured to measure distance between the sensor and the individual's foot or leg during the movement gesture.

6. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of images projected by the projector further includes an image indicating that the movement gesture did not include movement within a predetermined speed range,
the movement detection sensor is configured to measure movement speed of the movement gesture,
the electronic controller determines whether or not the movement gesture is a conforming gesture in response to determining whether or not the movement speed of the movement gesture falls within a predetermined speed range, and
in response to the electronic controller determining that the movement gesture did not include movement within the predetermined speed range, the electronic controller operates the projector to display the image indicating that the movement gesture did not include movement within the predetermined speed range.

7. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic controller determines that the movement gesture is a conforming gesture in response to determining whether or not the movement direction of the movement gesture conforms to the predetermined direction of movement.

8. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
the movement detection sensor includes a proximity sensor installed to the vehicle proximate the rear door, the proximity sensor being configured to measure distance between the proximity sensor and the individual during the movement gesture, and
the electronic controller determines that the movement gesture is a conforming gesture in response to determining whether or not the measured distance conforms to the predetermined distance range.

9. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the electronic controller is configured to determine whether or not the individual is standing within a prescribed location relative to the rear door.

10. The rear door control system according to claim 9 , wherein
the plurality of images projected by the projector further includes a position image alerting the individual to stand rearward of a portion of the positioning image during opening of the door, and
the electronic controller being further configured to operate the projector to project the position image to the ground surface alerting the individual to stand rearward of a portion of the positioning image during opening of the rear door.

11. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of images projected by the projector further includes a welcome image, and
the electronic controller is further configured to operate the projector to display the welcome image in response to signals from the keyfob sensor array indicating that the authorized keyfob has been detected.

12. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of images projected by the projector further includes a welcome image, and
the electronic controller is further configured to operate the projector to display the welcome image in response to signals from the keyfob sensor array indicating that the authorized keyfob has been detected and further in response to determining that the keyfob is located proximate the rear door.

13. The rear door control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of images projected by the projector further includes a position image alerting the indi

Assignees

• Nissan North America Inc

Inventors

• Ramakrishnan Avinaash

Classifications

• E05F15/73

  responsive to movement or presence of persons or objects · CPC title

• E05F2015/765

  using optical sensors · CPC title

• G07C2209/64

  using a proximity sensor · CPC title

• E05F15/76

  responsive to devices carried by persons or objects, e.g. magnets or reflectors (E05F15/77 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05Y2900/531

  Doors · CPC title