Vehicle emergency notification system and related method

• US 20050264403A1
• Filed: 10/01/2004
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Nobusawa, Hisashi
• Granted Patent: US 7,323,972 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/436
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12

Abstract

A vehicle emergency notification system is installed on a vehicle to transmit an emergency notification signal to a base station when a collision occurs and provide with a collision sensor sensing a collision of the vehicle, a notification switch whose operation is permitted when the collision sensor senses the collision, and a communicating section transmitting an emergency notification signal to the base station. The communicating section allows the emergency notification signal to be transmitted to the base station when the notification switch is turned on.

Claims

1. A vehicle emergency notification system installed on a vehicle to transmit an emergency notification signal to a base station when a collision occurs, the system comprising:

a collision sensor sensing a collision of a vehicle;

a notification switch whose operation is permitted when the collision sensor senses the collision; and

a communicating section transmitting an emergency notification signal to a base station, the communicating section allowing the emergency notification signal to be transmitted to the base station when the notification switch is turned on.

2. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, further comprising a lift-up hood system operative to lift up a hood of the vehicle when the collision sensor senses the collision,

wherein the operation of the notification switch is permitted when the lift-up hood system is actuated.

3. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 2, wherein the lift-up hood system lifts up a rear end of the hood upward.

4. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, further comprising an air bag control unit deploying an air bag when the collision sensor senses the collision,

wherein the operation of the notification switch is permitted by the air bag control unit, and the emergency notification signal is generated by the air bag control unit to be transmitted through the communicating section to the base station.

5. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein the notification switch includes a touch type switch to be displayed over a display screen of a display device, installed on the vehicle, when the collision sensor senses the collision.

6. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein when the notification switch is not turned on, the emergency notification signal is not transmitted.

7. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 1, wherein a cancel switch, selecting not to transmit the emergency notification signal, is displayed in an area near the notification switch.

8. The vehicle emergency notification system according to claim 7, wherein when the cancel switch is turned on, the emergency notification signal is not transmitted.

9. A vehicle emergency notification system installed on a vehicle to transmit an emergency notification signal to a base station when a collision occurs, the system comprising:

collision detection means for detecting a collision of a vehicle;

notification selection means for selecting notification to a base station, operation of the notification selection means being permitted when the collision detection means detects the collision; and

communication means for transmitting an emergency notification signal to the base station and operative to transmit the emergency notification signal to the base station when the notification selection means is turned on.

10. A vehicle emergency notification method transmitting an emergency notification signal to a base station when a collision of a vehicle occurs, the method comprising:

detecting a collision of a vehicle;

displaying a notification switch when the collision is detected; and

transmitting an emergency notification signal to a base station when the notification switch is turned on.