Signal control apparatus and signal having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10977938-B2
Application number	US-201815907219-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2018
Priority date	Aug 6, 2010
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

A signal control apparatus includes a power supply device, a battery, a power switching section, a detector, and a display controller. A first mode is a mode in which electric power is supplied from the power supply device to each component provided in the signal control apparatus and a second mode is a mode in which electric power is supplied from the battery to the each component. The detector detects a volume of traffic on the basis of an image captured by an imaging device. The power switching section selects the first mode when a voltage or a current supplied to the power supply device is larger than a predetermined threshold value and selects the second mode when a voltage or a current supplied to the power supply device is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A signal control apparatus comprising:
a power supply device to which electric power is supplied from an outside of the signal control apparatus;
a battery that stores electric power;
a power switching section that switches between a first mode and a second mode, the first mode being a mode in which electric power is supplied from the power supply device to a signal display provided at a signal and the second mode being a mode in which electric power is supplied from the battery to the signal display provided at the signal;
a detector that detects a volume of traffic on the basis of an image captured by an imaging device; and
a display controller that changes a display state of the signal display on the basis of a switching signal received from an outside of the signal control apparatus when the power switching section is selecting the first mode and that changes the display state on the basis of the volume of traffic detected by the detector when the power switching section is selecting the second mode,
wherein the power switching section selects the first mode when a voltage or a current supplied to the power supply device is larger than a predetermined threshold value and selects the second mode when a voltage or a current supplied to the power supply device is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold value, and
wherein the display controller is configured to perform display control of the signal display in both of the first mode and the second mode by utilizing same light emitting sections of the signal display to change the display state in both the first mode and the second mode to control a flow of traffic.

2. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the power switching section selects the first mode when electric power is being supplied to the power supply device and selects the second mode when electric power is not being supplied to the power supply device.

3. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the detector detects a volume of traffic in each of a plurality of lanes on the basis of images of the plurality of lanes captured by the imaging device, and
the display controller changes the display state of the signal display on the basis of a result of comparison of the detected volumes of traffic in each of the plurality of lanes.

4. The signal control apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the display controller changes the display state of the signal display on the basis of the result of comparison of the detected volumes of traffic in each of the plurality of lanes so that a vehicle traveling in a lane with a high volume of traffic can move with priority over a vehicle traveling in a lane with a low volume of traffic.

5. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the detector detects a type of a vehicle on the basis of the captured image, and
when the detected type of the vehicle is an emergency vehicle, the display controller changes the display state of the signal display so that the emergency vehicle is allowed to move.

6. The signal control apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the emergency vehicle is an automobile for firefighting use, an automobile for emergencies use, or a police car.

7. The signal control apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the detector determines that the vehicle is the emergency vehicle when a vehicle having a red light is included in the captured image.

8. The signal control apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a sound pickup device that picks up a sound;
wherein the detector detects the type of the vehicle on the basis of the captured image and a sound picked up by the sound pickup device.

9. The signal control apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the detector determines whether or not a siren sound is included in the sound picked up by the sound pickup device and detects the type of the vehicle on the basis of the determination result and the captured image.

10. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when a vehicle changes course so as to cross an opposite lane with respect to a lane in which the vehicle has traveled until changing course, the display controller changes the display state of the signal display on the basis of the imaged captured by the imaging device so that priority is given to the vehicle which changes course.

11. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when a vehicle changes course so as to cross an opposite lane with respect to a lane in which the vehicle has traveled until changing course, the display controller changes the display state of the signal display on the basis of the imaged captured by the imaging device so that a period of time allowed to move for the vehicle which changes course is adjusted.

12. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the signal display, each of the light emitting sections corresponding to one signal comprises a plurality of light emitting elements, respectively, and
the display controller makes the plurality of light emitting elements into the light emitting state while making some of the plurality of light emitting elements in a light emitting state or in a non-light emitting state and while making a location in the light emitting state or in the non-light emitting state change.

13. The signal control apparatus according to claim 12 ,
wherein the display controller makes the plurality of light emitting elements into the light emitting state while making some of the plurality of light emitting elements in a light emitting state or in a non-light emitting state and while making the location in the light emitting state or in the non-light emitting state in the light emitting section rotate, move, enlarge, or reduce.

14. The signal control apparatus according to claim 12 ,
wherein the display controller changes a light emitting element, which is being made to the light emitting state, from the non-light emitting state to the light emitting state while sequentially changing a brightness of the light emitting element in the non-light emitting state.

15. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the imaging device is an imaging apparatus which performs imaging in an azimuth of 360°.

16. The signal control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the imaging device is fixed to the signal so as to image a lane in which traffic is controlled by the display state of the signal display.

17. A signal that comprises the signal control apparatus according to claim 1 .

18. The signal according to claim 17 ,
wherein the signal is a temporary signal for construction use.

19. A signal comprising:
a signal display;
a battery that stores electric power and that supplies electric power to the signal display;
an imaging device that captures an image of surroundings; and
a controller that switches a display state of the signal display based on the image captured by the imaging device,
wherein the controller is configured to switch the display state of the signal display based on a switching signal received from an outside of the signal in a first mode which is a mode in which electric power with a voltage or a current larger than a predetermined threshold value is supplied from the outside of the signal to the signal display, and is configured to switch the display state of the signal display based on a volume of traffic captured by the imaging device in a second mode which is a mode in which electric power with a

Assignees

• Nikon Corp

Inventors

• Inoue Hideya
• Yamagaki Koji

Classifications

• G08G1/04 Primary

  using optical or ultrasonic detectors · CPC title

• G08G1/07 Primary

  Controlling traffic signals · CPC title

• G08G1/08

  according to detected number or speed of vehicles · CPC title

• H04N7/188

  Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position (signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253) · CPC title

• H04N7/181

  for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources · CPC title