Vehicle occupant detection device

• US 20070272837A1
• Filed: 05/24/2007
• Published: 11/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Furukawa, Takashi, Kumakiri, Naotaka, Yoshifuku, Masashi
• Application Number:
  US11/805,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20070272837A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/226
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01538 for image processing, e.g. cameras or sensor arrays

Abstract

A vehicle occupant detection device includes light-receiving elements for receiving light from a vehicle interior, and a signal processing part for processing a signal detected by the light detecting elements. A vehicle occupant in the vehicle interior is detected by the signal detecting part on the basis of an image signal obtained by the light-receiving elements. The vehicle occupant detection device has a band-pass filter, which has a frequency range whose transmission band is substantially the same as a sunlight absorption spectrum band, and in which a wavelength of the light received by the light-receiving element is selected in accordance with the transmission band. An object that is to be detected and is present in the vehicle interior is accordingly imaged/detected by the vehicle occupant detection device using a certain wavelength region of near infrared light, and decreases in contrast in relation with sunlight are eliminated.

Claims

1. A vehicle occupant detection device that comprises:

a light-receiving element for receiving light from a vehicle interior; and

signal processing means for processing a signal detected by the light-receiving element, and that detects, based on an image signal obtained using the light-receiving element, a vehicle occupant in the vehicle interior via the signal processing means, the vehicle occupant detection device further comprising;

a band-pass filter, which has a frequency range whose transmission band is substantially the same as a sunlight absorption spectrum band, and in which a wavelength of the light received by the light-receiving element is selected according to the transmission band.

2. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 1, further comprising auxiliary light projection means for emitting auxiliary light onto an object to be detected, wherein a wavelength region of the auxiliary light is set to a near infrared region.

3. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 2, wherein the wavelength region of the auxiliary light matches the transmission band of the band-pass filter.

4. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 1, wherein the light-receiving element comprises a camera.

5. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 4, wherein the band-pass filter is provided to a lens of the camera.

6. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 4, wherein a plurality of the cameras is provided in the form of an integrated structure.

7. The vehicle occupant detection device of claim 1, wherein the wavelength region of the transmission band of the band-pass filter is set to be near 937 nm.