Emergency notification apparatus for vehicle

• US 20070046457A1
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sato, Masayuki, Suzuki, Takeyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,432,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An emergency notification apparatus for a vehicle includes: a receiver provided in a subject vehicle, being adapted to receive emergency information from another vehicle; a transmitter provided in the subject vehicle, being adapted to transmit the emergency information received by the receiver to a predetermined emergency information center via a base station for wireless communication; a navigation device which navigates the subject vehicle to a predetermined destination; and a controller which controls the navigation device so as to set a communicable area of the base station as the destination when the receiver receives the emergency information outside of the communicable area and controls the transmitter so as to transmit the emergency information via the base station after the subject vehicle reaches the communicable area guided by the navigation device.

Claims

1. An emergency notification apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a receiver provided in a subject vehicle, being adapted to receive emergency information from another vehicle;

a transmitter provided in the subject vehicle, being adapted to transmit the emergency information received by the receiver to a predetermined emergency information center via a base station for wireless communication;

a navigation device which navigates the subject vehicle to a predetermined destination; and

a controller which controls the navigation device so as to set a communicable area of the base station as the destination when the receiver receives the emergency information outside of the communicable area and controls the transmitter so as to transmit the emergency information via the base station after the subject vehicle reaches the communicable area guided by the navigation device.

2. The emergency notification apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a determination device provided in the subject vehicle, which determines which of the communicable area or a facility having a communication device in the vicinity of the subject vehicle is more effective in transmitting the emergency information to the emergency information center, wherein

the controller controls the navigation device so as to set one of the communicable area and the facility as the destination based on a determination result of the determination device.

3. The emergency notification apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the determination device compares a distance between the subject vehicle and the communicable area with a distance between the subject vehicle and the facility.