Alert system installed in vehicle

• US 20060103513A1
• Filed: 10/24/2005
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi FUSO Truck & Bus Corporation (Daimler Truck Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi FUSO Truck & Bus Corporation (Daimler Truck Holding AG)
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Keiichi, Ihara, Toru
• Granted Patent: US 7,317,383 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72418 for supporting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264

Abstract

With the intention of issuing an alert responsive to judgment of dozing at wheel or deviation from the lane, there is provided an alert system installed in a vehicle including driving state detecting means for detecting driving state of the vehicle; a mobile telephone including a camera; holding means for detachably holding the mobile telephone in an interior of the vehicle such that the camera is able to acquire an image ahead of the vehicle; and alert issuing means for issuing an alert from the mobile telephone based on the image ahead of the vehicle obtained by the camera and the driving state detected by the driving state detecting means.

Claims

1. An alert system installed in a vehicle comprising:

driving state detecting means for detecting driving state of the vehicle;

a mobile telephone including a camera;

holding means for detachably holding said mobile telephone in an interior of the vehicle such that said camera is able to acquire an image ahead of the vehicle; and

alert issuing means for issuing an alert from said mobile telephone based on the image ahead of the vehicle obtained by said camera and the driving state detected by said driving state detecting means.

2. An alert system installed in a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:

said mobile telephone further includes current position recognizing means that is able to recognize a current position of the vehicle; and

if said alert issuing means issues the alert, said current position recognizing means recognizes the current position where the vehicle is at that time.

3. An alert system installed in a vehicle comprising:

driving state detecting means for detecting driving state of the vehicle;

a mobile telephone including a camera;

holding means for detachably holding said mobile telephone in an interior of the vehicle such that said camera is able to acquire an image ahead of the vehicle;

attention estimating means for estimating an attention of a driver of the vehicle based on the image ahead of the vehicle acquired by said camera and the driving state detected by said driving state detecting means; and

alert issuing means for issuing, if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low, an alert from said mobile telephone.

4. An alert system installed in a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein:

said mobile telephone further includes current position recognizing means that is able to recognize a current position of the vehicle; and

if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low, said current position recognizing means recognizes the current position where the vehicle is at that time.

10. An alert system according to claim 3, wherein if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low, permission for and prohibition against incoming call reception, conversation, or mail reception over said mobile telephone are changed over.

5. An alert system installed in a vehicle comprising:

driving state detecting means for detecting driving state of the vehicle;

a mobile telephone including a camera;

holding means for detachably holding said mobile telephone in an interior of the vehicle such that said camera is able to acquire an image ahead of the vehicle;

lane deviation monitoring means for monitoring, based on the image ahead of the vehicle acquired by said camera and the driving state detected by said driving state detecting means, whether or not the vehicle deviates from a lane on which the vehicle is traveling; and

alert issuing means for issuing, if said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, an alert from said mobile telephone.

6. An alert system installed in a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein:

said mobile telephone further includes current position recognizing means that is able to recognize a current position of the vehicle; and

if said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, said current position recognizing means recognizes the current position where the vehicle is at that time.

11. An alert system according to claim 5, wherein if said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, permission for and prohibition against incoming call reception, conversation, or mail reception over said mobile telephone are changed over.

7. An alert system installed in a vehicle comprising:

driving state detecting means for detecting driving state of the vehicle;

a mobile telephone including a camera;

holding means for detachably holding said mobile telephone in an interior of the vehicle such that said camera is able to acquire an image ahead of the vehicle;

attention estimating means for estimating an attention of a driver of the vehicle based on the image ahead of the vehicle acquired by said camera and the driving state detected by said driving state detecting means;

lane deviation monitoring means for monitoring, based on the image ahead of the vehicle acquired by said camera and the driving state detected by said driving state detecting means, whether or not the vehicle deviates from a lane on which the vehicle is traveling; and

alert issuing means for issuing, if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low or said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, an alert from said mobile telephone.

8. An alert system installed in a vehicle according to claim 7, wherein:

said mobile telephone further includes current position recognizing means that is able to recognize a current position of the vehicle; and

if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low or said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, said current position recognizing means recognizes the current position where the vehicle is at that time.

9. An alert system installed in a vehicle according to claim 8, wherein if said attention estimating means judges that the attention of the driver is low or said lane deviation monitoring means determines or predicts that the vehicle deviates from the lane, the mobile telephone sends the current position recognized by said current position recognizing means to a management facility of the vehicle.