Towing assistance apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11292387-B2
Application number	US-201916502243-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2019
Priority date	Jul 5, 2018
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

A towing assistance apparatus includes an image acquisition unit successively acquiring a rear image and a lateral image serving as a surrounding image captured by an imaging unit that is provided at a towing vehicle to which a towed vehicle is configured to be connected, an angle acquisition unit acquiring a connection angle between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle, and a display processing unit switching the surrounding image displayed at a display unit from the lateral image to the rear image in a case where the connection angle becomes equal to or greater than a first angle at which a change control for decreasing the connection angle is impossible by a steering of the towing vehicle during a rearward driving thereof in a state where the lateral image is displayed and the towing vehicle to which the towed vehicle is connected is in a rearward driving available state.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A towing assistance apparatus comprising:
an image acquisition unit successively acquiring a rear image and a lateral image each of which serves as a surrounding image captured by an imaging unit that is provided at a towing vehicle to which a towed vehicle is configured to be connected, the rear image including a rear region of the towing vehicle and the lateral image including a lateral region of the towing vehicle;
an angle acquisition unit acquiring a connection angle between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle; and
a display processing unit switching the surrounding image displayed at a display unit from the lateral image to the rear image in a case where the connection angle becomes equal to or greater than a first angle at which a change control for decreasing the connection angle is impossible by a steering of the towing vehicle during a rearward driving thereof in a state where the lateral image is displayed at the display unit and the towing vehicle to which the towed vehicle is connected is in a rearward driving available state.

2. The towing assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display processing unit displays the rear image as the surrounding image at the display unit in a case where the towing vehicle to which the towed vehicle is connected is shifted to the rearward driving available state, the display processing unit switching the surrounding image displayed at the display unit to the lateral image capturing an inner side of a turning of the towed vehicle in a case where the connection angle becomes equal to or greater than a second angle which is smaller than the first angle with reference to a front-rear direction of the towing vehicle, the display processing unit switching the surrounding image displayed at the display unit to the rear image in a case where the connection angle reaches the first angle.

3. The towing assistance apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the display processing unit increases a display region of the rear image in a vehicle width direction displayed in a case where the connection angle becomes equal to or greater than the first angle than a display region of the rear image in the vehicle width direction displayed in a case where the towing vehicle is shifted to the rearward driving available state.

4. The towing assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a warning unit warning that the change control for decreasing the connection angle is impossible by the steering of the towing vehicle during the rearward driving thereof in a case where the connection angle reaches the first angle.

5. The towing assistance apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display processing unit displays a possible position at which the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle make contact with each other at the display unit in a case where the connection angle becomes equal to or greater than the first angle.

Assignees

• Aisin Corp

Inventors

• Maruoka Tetsuya
• Watanabe Kazuya
• Yamamoto Kinji

Classifications

• G06V20/58

  Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads · CPC title

• G06T2207/30252

  Vehicle exterior; Vicinity of vehicle · CPC title

• B60R2300/302

  combining image information with GPS information or vehicle data, e.g. vehicle speed, gyro, steering angle data · CPC title

• B62D15/0295 Primary

  by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image · CPC title

• B60R2300/806

  for aiding parking · CPC title