Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – Of collision or contact with external object
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-23
2002-01-15
Hofsass, Jeffery (Department: 2736)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
Of collision or contact with external object
C340S435000, C340S502000, C340S903000, C340S904000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06339369
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to vehicular collision avoidance systems and in particular to an easily retrofittable, collision warning apparatus for vehicles that alerts the operator to potential obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle during operations such as parking and driving in stop and go traffic conditions.
2. Description of Related Art
Traffic statistics show that every 1.6 minutes, a driver backs up into trouble with their car. Children and animals are at risk constantly. Restricted operator visibility in front of the vehicle is a problem for school buses. Young children darting into an obscured area of the bus unseen by the operator have contributed to fatalities. A major cause of vehicle accidents today involves front-to-rear collisions, particularly in stop and go traffic. Insufficient room between vehicles is the primary cause of rear end collisions. Most vehicles have one or more blind spots surrounding the vehicle which cannot be easily observed by the motorist. These blind spots are usually located at the rear corners of the vehicle due to obstructions that block a full view. This is particularly apparent when the vehicle is being reversed, in which case, lack of full view may cause collisions resulting in loss of life and property. In another instance, when a motorist is pulling into or backing out of a parking space, it is difficult for the motorist to maintain attention simultaneously on all sides of the vehicle in order to avoid hitting adjacent objects such as other cars. Not only do such accidents result in loss of life and injuries, but drive up the cost of automobile insurance and repairs. These types of incidents account for the majority of accidents involving vehicles and have spurred the development of collision warning systems.
Parking a vehicle accurately within a garage requires accurate positioning to prevent contact with the front wall and objects placed along the wall, while providing sufficient clearance behind the vehicle. The detection of objects around a vehicle is an ever growing concern, especially with the increased popularity of the larger vehicles such as minivans, trucks, and RVs.
The simplest collision warning systems are passive. They comprise a system of mirrors, markers, and feelers installed around the periphery of the vehicle. These give the operator a visual indication of the extremities of the vehicle so that the operator can estimate the spatial separation between the vehicle and nearby obstacles. Such techniques have limited utility since they rely on the visual acuity and depth perception of the individual, and are ineffective in poor lighting conditions. Luxury car makers have begun to offer active parking aids as standard equipment on their higher end models. An example is the Parktronics system from Mercedes Benz. These systems utilize a plurality of distance measuring sensors mounted around the periphery of the vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle fenders. The distance measuring sensors are connected to a display and warning system mounted in the vehicle dashboard which provide a continuous indication of potential obstacles in the vehicle's path during operations such as parking. Such is the usefulness and urgency for such a collision warning system that it is expected to be standard equipment on all new cars by the year 2000. Since the typical life-span of the average car in the US is well over a decade, it will be a long time before all the vehicles are equipped with collision warning systems. Thus, there is an urgent need for a collision warning system that is easily retrofittable to existing vehicles for them to remain complaint with evolving safety standards for vehicles.
To address this need, Topix has recently introduced the Mini II car reversing aid that comprises a distance indicator unit mounted within the passenger cabin, and a plurality of distance measuring sensors that are connected to the rear bumper. The distance indicator unit provides a readout of the distance as well as an audio reminder. Similar systems are available in kit form such as the K3502 parking radar from Velleman Kits. For all these systems, the distance measuring sensor has to be electrically connected to the electrical system of the vehicle as well as to an indicator unit mounted within the passenger compartment. Electrical wiring that is preferably concealed has to be installed between the indicator unit and the distance measuring sensors.
Several embodiments of collision warning and avoidance systems have been described in the prior art. Schofield U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,772 describes a passive mirror based system. Sindle U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,397 describes an ultrasonic distance detector for vehicles using a plurality of transducers located around the sides of the vehicle and connected to transmitters for sending sonic pulses to distant objects. Each of the transducers is connected to a receiver for detecting sonic echoes from close objects. The output of each receiver is connected to individual indicator lamps and a warning device such as a horn so that if any of the lamps are energized, the driver is warned that one side of the vehicle is in danger of a collision. The warning is activated if the obstacles are within a pre-determined distance that is set based on the speed of the vehicle.
A variety of distance measuring sensors employing ultrasonic, radio frequency, microwave, optical, and video techniques for distance sensing have been described. These sensors determine the proximity of different sides of a vehicle with respect to external objects. For short distance sensing applications (i.e. sensing distances under 10 feet), ultrasonic sensing is the preferred method. Various embodiments and refinements using ultrasonic sensors for collision warning systems have been described in Sindle U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,397, Sindle U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,232, Duncan U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,152, Vancha U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,273, Kodera U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,541, Kodera U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,512, Tsuda U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,716, Gelhard U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,977, Bruggen U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,064, Tsuji U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,385, Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,295, Riedel U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,512, Forster U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,869, Friberg U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,586, Truesdell U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,975, Qualizza U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,316, Gauthier U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,205, Park U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,501, Waffler U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,647, and Akuzawa U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,086.
Other distance sensing means that have been described include capacitive (Stahovec U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,116), light based (Endo U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,238), radar (Manor U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,191, Pakett U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,196, and Henderson U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,962), doppler radar (Dombrowski U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,673 and Gallagher U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,740), optical imaging (Dye U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,051, Bottesch U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,681, and Truesdell U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,975), electro-optic (Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,157), infrared (Juds U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,384), laser radar (Shaw U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,138), radiant energy (Cho U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,613), video imaging (Abersfelder U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,614), electromagnetic radiation (Signore U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,136), articulated reflector (Richardson U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,947), and MMIC (Agravante U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,793).
Radar and doppler radar systems are best suited for long range sensing and do not provide sufficient accuracy for objects closer than 10 feet. In addition, they are expensive, lack signal directionality, and need regular maintenance and calibration. Infrared detectors are prone to errors caused by temperature fluctuations. Reflections from nearby objects or reflective surfaces reduce the sensitivity of the infrared sensors. The viewing angle of these systems is limited. Light transmissions are obscured by dust, snow, rain or other environmental factors. To circumvent the limitations of a single sensor technology, multiple sensing techniques may be combined as described by Yoshioka U.S. Pat. No. 5,47
Hofsass Jeffery
Tweel , Jr. John
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