Vehicle environment control device

• US 20040225419A1
• Filed: 05/05/2004
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Ten Limited (DENSO Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Ten Limited (DENSO Corporation)
• Inventors: Kishimoto, Satoru, Sakai, Naoki, Maeno, Yoshihiko, Seike, Yasushi
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,213 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/00 Safety devices for propulsion-unit control, specially adapted for, or arranged in, vehicles, e.g. preventing fuel supply or ignition in the event of potentially dangerous conditions for electrically-propelled vehicles B60L3/00; road vehicle drive control systems for purposes not related to the control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/00; drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/252 Fingerprint recognition
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system

Abstract

A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment has a personal data storage section for storing user'"'"'s personal data associated with users of the vehicle M, a fingerprint information storage section for storing information about fingerprints of authorized users thereof, a section for identifying a user based on fingerprint information, a section for reading personal data (such as a physique) of the identified user thereof from the personal data storage section and a section for setting the vehicle M to be an environment suitable for the user (such as setting a seat position) based on the read personal data, resulting in improved convenience of a driver or occupants in using a vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a personal data storage section for storing personal data of a user of the vehicle associated with the user;

a user identification section for identifying the user;

a personal data reading section for reading the personal data of the user of the vehicle from the personal data storage section based on the identification result by the user identification section; and

a vehicle environment setting section for setting the vehicle to be an environment suitable for the identified user based on the personal data read by the personal data reading section.

2. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle environment set by the vehicle environment setting section includes at least one from among the positions of a seat, a brake pedal, mirrors and a steering wheel, the expanding force of an air bag, the stiffness of a suspension and the timing of shifting.

3. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a pictorial data transmitting section for transmitting pictorial data obtained from a picture-taking unit for taking pictures of the inside of the vehicle to a first prescribed destination using a communication section when a first predetermined condition is met.

4. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 3, comprising:

an object movement judgment section for judging whether or not there is a movement of an object inside the vehicle based on pictorial data obtained from the picture-taking unit, wherein;

the first predetermined condition includes that it is judged that there is a movement of an object inside the vehicle by the object movement judgment section.

5. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 3, comprising:

a transmission request presence judgment section for judging whether or not there is a transmission request of the pictorial data from the outside of the vehicle, wherein;

the first predetermined condition includes that it is judged that the transmission request was made by the transmission request presence judgment section.

6. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a keeping space storage section for storing positional information concerning a keeping space for the vehicle;

an opening request signal transmitting section for transmitting an opening request signal to a keeping space opening device installed at the keeping space when a second predetermined condition is met; and

a vehicle position judgment section for judging whether or not the vehicle is in the vicinity of the keeping space based on positional information of the vehicle and the positional information concerning the keeping space stored in the keeping space storage section, wherein;

the second predetermined condition includes that it is judged that the vehicle is in

the vicinity of the keeping space by the vehicle position judgment section.

7. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 6, comprising:

a vehicle approaching judgment section for judging whether or not the vehicle approached the keeping space, wherein;

the second predetermined condition includes that it is judged that the vehicle approached the keeping space by the vehicle approaching judgment section.

8. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a room temperature judgment section for judging whether or not the temperature inside the vehicle reached a prescribed temperature based on temperature data obtained from a temperature measuring unit for measuring the room temperature of the vehicle; and

a temperature condition transmitting section for transmitting information indicating that the temperature inside the vehicle reached the prescribed temperature to a second prescribed destination using a communication section when it is judged that the temperature inside the vehicle reached the prescribed temperature by the room temperature judgment section.

9. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a fee information storage section for storing fee information required for calculating a parking fee for a parking lot;

a parking start time determination section for determining when the parking of the vehicle was started in the parking lot;

a parking situation calculation section for finding a parking situation related to the parking fee based on the parking start time determined by the parking start time determination section and the fee information stored in the fee information storage section; and

a parking situation transmitting section for transmitting information showing the parking situation calculated by the parking situation calculation section to a third prescribed destination using a communication section.

10. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 9, comprising:

a first transmission timing decision section for deciding the transmission timing of the information showing the parking situation based on the timing with which an additional fee is added to the parking fee, wherein;

the parking situation transmitting section transmits the information with the transmission timing decided by the first transmission timing decision section.

11. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 9, comprising:

a second transmission timing decision section for deciding the transmission timing of the information showing the parking situation based on the parking fee, wherein;

the parking situation transmitting section transmits the information with the transmission timing decided by the second transmission timing decision section.

12. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 9, comprising:

a pay parking lot storage section for storing positional information about a pay parking lot, wherein;

the parking start time determination section recognizes the start of parking of the vehicle in the pay parking lot and determines the parking start time of the vehicle in the pay parking lot based on positional information of the vehicle and the positional information of the pay parking lot stored in the pay parking lot storage section.

13. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a first noxious gas detector for detecting a noxious gas content inside the vehicle; and

a ventilation section for ventilating the room of the vehicle in response to the noxious gas content inside the vehicle based on data obtained by the first noxious gas detector.

14. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a second noxious gas detector for detecting a noxious gas content outside the vehicle;

a noxious gas content judgment section for judging whether or not a noxious gas content outside the vehicle is a prescribed content or more based on data obtained from the second noxious gas detector; and

an engine stop section for stopping an engine of the vehicle when a third prescribed condition is met, wherein;

the third prescribed condition includes that it is judged that the noxious gas content outside the vehicle is the prescribed content or more by the noxious gas content judgment section and that the vehicle is in an idling state.

15. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a quiet place judgment section for judging whether or not the vehicle is in a quiet place; and

a sound reducing section for reducing the volume of a horn sound or a sound generated from the vehicle when it is judged that the vehicle is in a quiet place by the quiet place judgment section.

16. A vehicle environment control device according to claim 15, wherein the quiet place judgment section judges whether or not the vehicle is in a quiet place based on information obtained from an illuminance measurement unit for measuring the illuminance outside the vehicle.

17. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

an obstacle distance calculation section for finding the distance from an obstacle present in a lateral direction of a lower portion of the vehicle based on information obtained from a side monitoring unit for monitoring the side of the lower portion of the vehicle; and

a processing section for conducting a predetermined processing based on the distance from the obstacle calculated by the obstacle distance calculation section.

18. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a service information storage section for storing information to be provided to each person associated with each person;

an occupant identification section for identifying an occupant of the vehicle;

a service information reading section for reading information to be provided to the occupant identified by the occupant identification section from the service information storage section; and

a providing section for providing the information read by the service information reading section to the occupant.

19. A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, comprising:

a switching signal outputting section for outputting a signal instructing to switch between locking and unlocking of a child lock to a child lock controller based on a signal transmitted through an operation of a touch panel having changed operating screens.