Pedestrian safety system and wearable member having light emitting function

• US 10,274,178 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2014
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Yoshida, Ichiro, Sawada, Kiyohiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Sawhney, Hargobind S
• Application Number:
  US15/034,188
• Publication Number:
  US 20160265762A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 13/01 with reflective or luminous safety means visible signalling arrangements G08B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/023 Power supplies in a casing F21V23/003 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/005 including pedestrian guidance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/156 two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/05 using capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/40 using two or more transmitting or receiving devices H02J50/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/00 Circuit arrangements for operating light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/105 in response to determined parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/11 by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

A pedestrian safety system includes a power transmission unit provided to a vehicle and transmitting an electric power, a power reception unit provided to a wearable member being wearable by a pedestrian and receiving the electric power transmitted from the power transmission unit, a power storage unit provided to the wearable member and storing the electric power received by the power reception unit, and at least one light emitting unit provided to the wearable member. The at least one light emitting unit performs a flash or illumination operation with a supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit as an operational power. With this pedestrian safety system, pedestrian'"'"'s safety can be properly ensured without disposing an operational power source of the light emitting unit on the pedestrian side.

Claims

1. A pedestrian safety system comprising:

a power transmission unit provided to a vehicle and transmitting an electric power;

a power reception unit provided to a wearable member being wearable by a pedestrian, and the power reception unit receiving the electric power transmitted from the power transmission unit;

a power storage unit provided to the wearable member and storing the electric power received by the power reception unit; and

a plurality of light emitting units provided to the wearable member, and each of the plurality of light emitting units is capable of performing a flash or illumination operation with a supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit as an operational power, wherein

the power transmission unit transmits an electromagnetic wave,

the power reception unit receives the electromagnetic wave transmitted from the power transmission unit and generates, as the electric power transmitted from the power transmission unit, an electric power using the received electromagnetic wave,

the plurality of light emitting units are arranged at regular intervals and each of the plurality of light emitting units has an individual arrangement ID, and

each of the plurality of light emitting units performs the flash or illumination operation when the individual arrangement ID is specified by the electromagnetic wave received by the power reception unit.

2. The pedestrian safety system according to claim 1, wherein

the power reception unit switches an operation pattern of the flash or illumination operation in response to an amount of the electric power received by the power reception unit.

3. The pedestrian safety system according to claim 1, wherein

the at least one light emitting unit performs the flash or illumination operation when an ambient darkness level is equal to or less than a predetermined level.

4. The pedestrian safety system according to claim 1, wherein

the at least one light emitting unit performs the flash or illumination operation during a specific time zone.

5. The pedestrian safety system according to claim 1, wherein:

the electromagnetic wave includes an operation command that specifies a specified arrangement ID and an operation pattern; and

each of the plurality of light emitting units is configured to;

compare the specified arrangement ID of the operation command with the individual arrangement ID of the light emitting unit;

determine whether the individual arrangement ID of the light emitting unit matches the specified arrangement ID of the operation command;

identify the operation pattern specified by the operation command when the individual arrangement ID of the light emitting unit matches the specified arrangement ID of the operation command; and

perform the flash or illumination operation based on the operation pattern specified by the operation command when the individual arrangement ID of the light emitting unit matches the specified arrangement ID of the operation command.

6. The pedestrian safety system according to claim 5, wherein the each of the plurality of light emitting units is configured to not perform the flash or illumination operation when the individual arrangement ID of the light emitting unit does not match the specified arrangement ID of the operation command.

7. A wearable member, which has a light emitting function and is wearable by a pedestrian, comprising:

a power reception unit receiving an electric power transmitted from a power transmission unit provided to a vehicle;

a power storage unit storing the electric power received by the power reception unit; and

a plurality of light emitting units each of which being capable of performing a flash or illumination operation with use of the electric power stored in the power storage unit as an operational power, wherein

the power transmission unit transmits an electromagnetic wave,

the power reception unit receives the electromagnetic wave transmitted from the power transmission unit and generates, as the electric power transmitted from the power transmission unit, an electric power using the received electromagnetic wave,

the plurality of light emitting units are arranged at regular intervals and each of the plurality of light emitting units has an individual arrangement ID, and

each of the plurality of light emitting units performs the flash or illumination operation when the individual arrangement ID is specified by the electromagnetic wave received by the power reception unit.