Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-12
2003-06-10
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
C701S001000, C073S17800T, C340S425500, C340S901000, C340S988000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06577927
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus which, on occurrence of an event due to an emergency during travel in a car, automatically retrieves the useful information useful for eliminating the event to present the information to a driver.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Nowadays, there is established, as a commercial service, a service of installing an information furnishing apparatus, constructed e.g., as a computer terminal, in a car to furnish a variety of information to a driver.
First, there is a service employing a broadcast infrastructure. For example, VICS and teletext of FM Tokyo are furnishing the traffic information to car drivers. The services exploiting the broadcast infrastructure airs the same broadcast program in unison without regard to the circumstances of individual cars.
Second, there are numerous services exploiting the communication infrastructure, such as radio telephone. Examples of these services include Mone by Toyota and related its firms (abridged as “et al” hereinafter), Compass Link by Nissan et al., Inter-Navi by Honda Giken et al., ITGS by Mercedes Benz et al., and Mobile Link by many car navigation producing firms, and the like. In these services, exploiting the communication infrastructure, contents conforming to requests by individual drivers are sent to meet these requests. These may be classified as one sort of personal computer communication services for car drivers.
Third, there is known a system of automatically transmitting a communication notifying the occurrence of an accident and asking for rescue. Typical of such a system is the May-Day system which, on occurrence of an accident, automatically transmits a radio telephone call to ask a rescue center for rescue. An apparatus for coping with a car accident, as an analogous technique, is disclosed in JP Patent Kokai JP-A-10-44894. The OnStar, which the GM of USA offers as the commercial service, provides for communication between the car and the center by a portable telephone. Specifically, with this service, a control equipment of a car can be controlled from the center in case of occurrence of accidents or handle lock.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
There is much to be desired in the art, and particular problems have been encountered during the course of the investigations toward the present invention.
During car driving, there is a possibility that, in addition to crash accidents, a variety of problems, such as gas depletion, engine overheating, wear caused to the clutch and so forth. The commercial system of automatically transmitting a request for rescue in case a automotive vehicle has been disabled to be driven due to gas depletion or overheating is a function partially made into commercial service by the aforementioned OnStar. However, this service is predicted to be very costly.
As for the OnStar, GM loads it on certain high-grade automotive vehicles, such as Cadillac. Moreover, since OnStar is a toll service that costs tens of dollars per month regardless of whether or not the service is actually used. So, this service is not to be used freely by users at large. Of course, a driver would be willing to pay the high cost as a recompense for the service offered if the automotive vehicle he or she is driving is completely disabled to be driven. However, if the state of the automotive vehicle is no more than a pseudo-alarm state indicating a possible, not impending, trouble or a trouble likely to occur at most, no one would be willing to use the expensive automatic rescue service. There lacks up to now an inexpensive information service for an individual user under such pseudo-alarm state.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for furnishing the information useful to overcome an emergency situation that has occurred in a travelling automotive vehicle, such as overheating.
First Aspect
The information purveying apparatus for coping with an emergency during driving a car, according to the first aspect of the present invention, accomplishes the above object using an communication infrastructure. The information purveying apparatus comprises:
a common equipment provided on an operation center and an automotive vehicle side equipment provided on an automotive vehicle one to another, in which the automotive vehicle side equipment is capable of performing bidirectional communication with the operating center (common equipment). The common equipment includes a service information storage unit storing a plurality of contents information comprehending at least the appellation of service purveyors, a plurality of type names indicating types of the services purveyed by the service purveyors, and a plurality of service purveyors information comprehending the business time and business places of the service purveyors. The information purveying apparatus further comprises an information retrieval unit retrieving, on reception from the automotive vehicle an information inquiry request at least specifying the type name indicating the type of the service useful in overcoming the emergency situation that has occurred in the automotive vehicle and the current position of the automotive vehicle, the optimum service purveyor information useful to overcome the emergency situation that has occurred, from the service information storage unit, taking into account the type name specified, current position and the current time, and for transmitting at least the contents information to the automotive vehicle as a requestor. The automotive vehicle side equipment includes a position detection unit detecting the current position of the automotive vehicle, an emergency situation decision unit determining, on occurrence of an emergency situation, the type name indicating the sort of the service useful in overcoming the emergency situation that has occurred, and an information acquisition unit transmitting an information inquiry request at least specifying the type name determined by the emergency situation decision unit and the current position of the automotive vehicle as detected by the position detection unit to the information retrieval unit of the operating center, and outputting the information transmitted as a response from the information retrieval unit at an output device.
The information retrieval unit sets, as an optimum service purveyor information, a service purveyor information, among the plurality of service purveyors information stored in the service information storage unit, which has the same type name as the type name specified by the information inquiry, such that the vehicle can be reached within the business time judging from the current time, and the place of business of which is closer to the current car position as a source of inquiry. The current time, as required for the processing in the information retrieval unit, may be acquired by the automotive vehicle side device or on the common equipment. In the former case, the automotive vehicle side equipment includes a time detection unit detecting the current time, and the information acquisition unit comprehends the current time as detected by the time detection unit in the information inquiry request. In the latter case, the common equipment includes a time detection unit detecting the current time, and the information retrieval unit acquires the current time of a time point of reception of the information inquiry request from the time detection unit.
The common equipment includes a time detection unit detecting the current time and the automotive vehicle side device includes an automotive vehicle control device generating a control signal for coping with an unusual occurrence in the automotive vehicle and a correlation table stating the correlation between the control signal generated by the automotive vehicle control device and the type name specifying the type of the service useful in overcoming the unusual occurrence, the emergency situation decision unit, on occurrence of the control signal from the automotive vehicle control device, acquiring the type name corresponding to the generated control s
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Hernandez Olga
NEC Corporation
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
LandOfFree
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