Movable or removable closures – Safety means responsive to obstruction to closure – Sensing shoe on leading edge
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-18
2001-03-27
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Safety means responsive to obstruction to closure
Sensing shoe on leading edge
C049S026000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205710
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to automatic door opening arrangements for motor vehicles having sensors for detection of objects in the vicinity of a vehicle door.
Automatic door opening arrangements of this type permit a vehicle door to be opened upon demand only as far as permitted by any obstacles detected in the door opening region by the sensors on a motor vehicle, for example, which is equipped with the door opening arrangement. Such arrangements allow objects constituting stationary obstacles to opening of the door to be detected before or upon opening of the door so that damage to the door or to the obstacle located in the vicinity of the door can be avoided. In addition, accidents involving obstacles or persons moving into the region of swinging motion of the door can be avoided.
A conventional automatic door opening arrangement is disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 195 33 804 which provides an auxiliary holding device for limiting the angle of the opening of the door, utilizing a sensor which detects objects without contact and which is mounted on the outer edge of the door opposite from the pivot axis edge of the door. When the sensor reaches a specified distance from an object near the vehicle during opening of the door, the sensor triggers the auxiliary holding device almost instantaneously, causing it to lock. Although the distance from a neighboring vehicle can be determined by the sensor mounted on the rear edge of the door, this does not permit reliable detection of the adjacent region covered by the opening of the door or of the traffic activity approaching the door.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 195 37 619 discloses an arrangement for monitoring the traffic spacing of a motor vehicle which has at least one traffic spacing sensor for detecting an object approaching the vehicle and an associated signaling system responsive to the approach of an object which prevents, impedes or blocks the opening of at least one door of the vehicle, and/or indicates the approach by a signaling system. In that arrangement, the traffic spacing sensor is designed and mounted to monitor essentially the traffic situation behind the vehicle. Reliable monitoring of traffic activity that is encountered by an opening door opening cannot always be assured with that arrangement.
In the arrangement disclosed in that reference, the device that indicates entry of an object into the protected region may constitute a warning device or a device to prevent, impede or block opening of the door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic door opening arrangement which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic door opening arrangement that avoids, with a high degree of reliability, danger to persons and/or damage to obstacles or to the door itself upon opening of a door.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing an automatic door opening arrangement with a sensor system which allows the position of an object in a specified region to be reliably detected. The specified region preferably corresponds to the immediate region encompassed by the swing motion of the door, optionally with the addition of a safety zone. The monitored region advantageously extends over a greater region, which may extend along the length of the vehicle or even beyond it and which has a width of several meters, for example of about two meters, from the side of the vehicle having the sensor system associated with the door.
According to a first embodiment of the door opening arrangement of the invention, the door operator, for example the driver of a motor vehicle, can monitor potentially interfering activity adjacent to the door, for example traffic activity, independently. Upon demand, the door can be opened as wide as any obstacles in the door opening region of the vehicle permit. The door opening arrangement according to the invention, which may be capable of detecting multiple targets, can recognize obstacles, in particular stationary obstacles, in a specified volumetric region outside the door and locate their positions. This applies both when the door is closed as well as when the door is partially or fully open. The door can be blocked from opening or be opened only by a predetermined amount determined by an associated holding device. In addition, the force required to open the door or the door opening speed can be set, optionally as a function of distance of the door from the detected object. The sensor system is preferably designed so that the absolute height of any object located in the entire door opening region is determinable with respect to a reference coordinate system. The detection of object height may be limited to a specified maximum height, which may correspond to the height of the bottom of the open door, desirably with the addition of a predetermined safety zone. The door height is the level of the bottom of the door when opened. Object height, i.e., the height of the object, can also advantageously be determined by the sensor system.
Alternatively, the detection of object height may be related to specified regions of height in the reference coordinate system, for example, to a region of 0.5 m to 1 m, where only the part of an object which extends above the minimum door height region is indicated.
In this arrangement, the reference coordinate system is defined in its spatial relationship to the sensor system provided in the door.
The location of a detected object can be determined not only with respect to its position in a plane, but also in its spatial three-dimensional relationship to the sensor device, as well as alternatively with reference to a change in direction and/or speed in these dimensions.
Advantageously, the sensor system includes an ACC system (adaptive or automatic cruise control providing an automatic speed governor), by which an azimuthal triangulation of objects in a plane of constant height is effected in order to detect objects. Thus, the space lying outside or behind the door in the direction of motion of the sensor device can be reliably covered. The adjacent traffic activity thus can be automatically monitored, and the door can only be opened upon demand when the traffic situation so allows. In addition, the door is automatically prevented from opening any wider than obstacles in the door opening region permit. In particular, all of the moving objects in a specified region adjacent to the door can be detected with reference to their position, direction of motion and speed, so that the ACC system is capable of dealing with multiple targets.
The door opening arrangement according to the invention makes possible not only azimuthal triangulation of objects in a horizontal plane of constant height by the ACC system but, for monitoring traffic activity for example, also permits the height of objects that are located in the spatial region outside the door to be measured. The sensor system may be designed so that monitoring only takes place upon a demand for door opening.
The door opening arrangement according to the invention is usable for all kinds of doors, in particular for driver's, front-seat passenger's and back-seat-passengers' doors, as well as rear doors or tailgates, which may optionally also open upward.
In order to be able to fully monitor the region of swinging motion of the door in a specified region for potential obstacles, a phased-array antenna may be used, which in particular has a sensor beam displaceable over a large angular range, for example over 90 or 180°. The phased-array system may be a planar antenna system with an individual microwave radiator which is controllable with respect to amplitude and phase.
Preferably a plurality of antennas is provided, for example three to five antennas, each of which preferably has a broad directional characteristic. The position of an object can then be determined by a three-dimensional triangulation algorithm. The microwave radi
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Redman Jerry
Volkswagen AG
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