Warning system

• US 20080048850A1
• Filed: 07/19/2007
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Yamada, Yasufumi
• Granted Patent: US 7,679,499 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/439
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08

Abstract

A warning system warns a driver of a vehicle that a vehicle location in a record of previously detected drive operation that indicates a violation of a safety standard and a current position of the vehicle are determined to be within a predetermined distance from each other based on repeated detections of a current vehicle position by a detector and a detection of the drive operation that indicates the violation of the safety standard transmitted through an interface from a drive recorder. In this manner, the warning system for warning the driver lightens a process load of a unit that performs a position detection process and a unit that performs a record keeping process.

Claims

1. A warning system for use in a vehicle comprising:

a detector that detects a driving operation that indicates a violation of a safety standard and outputs a detection signal that indicates the detection of the driving operation exceeding the safety standard (i.e., unsafe driving hereinafter);

an interface unit that is connected to the detector; and

an acquisition unit that repeatedly identifies a current position of the vehicle, acquires the detection signal output from the detector through the interface unit, and records location information (i.e., unsafe location information hereinafter) of the vehicle at a time of the unsafe driving based on an acquisition of the detection signal,

wherein the acquisition unit provides a warning for a user based on a predetermined degree of closeness of the identified current position of the vehicle to a position indicated by a former record of the unsafe location information.

2. The warning system of claim 1,

wherein the detector outputs the location information of the vehicle at the time of the unsafe driving as the detection signal, and

the acquisition signal acquires and records the unsafe location information output by the detector through the interface unit as the unsafe location information.

3. The warning system of claim 2,

wherein the detector acquires the current position identified by the acquisition unit through the interface unit, and

the detector outputs the acquired current position as the location information of the vehicle at the time of the detection of the unsafe driving when the unsafe driving is detected.

4. The warning system of claim 3,

wherein the acquisition unit records information of the identified current position on a memory medium,

the detector outputs a request signal to the interface unit for acquiring the information of the current position, and

the interface unit retrieves the information of the current position from the memory medium and outputs the retrieved information to the detector based on a reception of the request signal from the detector.

5. The warning system of claim 3,

wherein the detector repeatedly acquires the information of the current position identified by the acquisition unit through the interface unit,

the detector repeatedly determines whether the unsafe driving is performed in synchronization with an acquisition of the information of the current position, and

the detector outputs the information of the current position that is acquired in synchronization with the determination of a performance of the unsafe driving operation when the performance of the unsafe driving operation is determined to be positive.

6. The warning system of claim 1,

wherein the detector records on the memory medium an image from a camera that captures surroundings of the vehicle at a time of a detection of an unsafe driving.

7. The warning system of claim 1, wherein the detector outputs an image from a camera that captures surroundings of the vehicle at a time of a detection of an unsafe driving together with the unsafe location information,

the acquisition unit receives and records the image from the detector through the interface unit, and

the acquisition unit displays the image on an image display unit for warning the user based on a predetermined degree of closeness of the current position to a former record of the location information

8. The warning system of claim 1,

wherein the acquisition unit warns the user based on a predetermined degree of closeness of the current position to the position indicated by the former record of the unsafe location information and based on at least a predetermined number of records of the location information indicative of the position in the unsafe location information through the acquiring of the location information.

9. The warning system of claim 1,

wherein the acquisition unit performs plural kinds of processes by a time-sharing method, and

the record of the unsafe location information is performed after completion of other processes.

10. The warning system of claim 1,

wherein the acquisition unit is a navigation system that displays a route to a destination with a map on an image display unit.