Driving assisting apparatus for vehicles
First Claim
1. A driving assisting apparatus comprising:
- a detection means for detecting an obstruction near a vehicle by radiating a wave to the surroundings and receiving the wave reflected by the obstruction; and
an assisting means for assisting driving of the vehicle when the detection means detects an obstruction, wherein the detection means has;
a plurality of distance measurement means each provided at predetermined intervals on the vehicle in a vertical direction and each used for measuring a distance to an obstruction based on time taken by the wave to propagate to the obstruction, hitting the obstruction and to propagate back;
a height computation means for computing a height of an obstruction from a surface of a road by using the distance measured by each of the distance measurement means as a parameter representing a distance to the obstruction in accordance with calculation conditions set in advance based on installation positions of the distance measurement means on the vehicle; and
an inhibition means for comparing the computed obstruction height from the surface of a road with a threshold height representing an upper limit of heights of bodies each not becoming as an obstacle to a travel motion of the vehicle to determine whether the computed obstruction height is smaller or greater than the threshold height and inhibiting an operation of the assisting means for a computed obstruction height found smaller than the threshold height.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A pair of distance measurement sensors provided at different heights measures distances to an obstruction. When the measured distances are shorter than a threshold distance, the height of the vehicle is found based on the measured distances. When the height of the vehicle is found greater than a threshold height, the existence of the obstruction is reported to the driver. When the height of the vehicle is found smaller than the threshold height, on the other hand, a change in obstruction height is found and compared with a threshold. When the change in obstruction height is greater than the threshold, the existence of the obstruction is reported to the driver since the height is determined to be an unreliable result of computation.
10 Citations
4 Claims
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1. A driving assisting apparatus comprising:
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a detection means for detecting an obstruction near a vehicle by radiating a wave to the surroundings and receiving the wave reflected by the obstruction; and
an assisting means for assisting driving of the vehicle when the detection means detects an obstruction, wherein the detection means has;
a plurality of distance measurement means each provided at predetermined intervals on the vehicle in a vertical direction and each used for measuring a distance to an obstruction based on time taken by the wave to propagate to the obstruction, hitting the obstruction and to propagate back;
a height computation means for computing a height of an obstruction from a surface of a road by using the distance measured by each of the distance measurement means as a parameter representing a distance to the obstruction in accordance with calculation conditions set in advance based on installation positions of the distance measurement means on the vehicle; and
an inhibition means for comparing the computed obstruction height from the surface of a road with a threshold height representing an upper limit of heights of bodies each not becoming as an obstacle to a travel motion of the vehicle to determine whether the computed obstruction height is smaller or greater than the threshold height and inhibiting an operation of the assisting means for a computed obstruction height found smaller than the threshold height. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification