In-vehicle emergency report apparatus

• US 20080203814A1
• Filed: 02/25/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Kamiya, Shinji
• Granted Patent: US 7,657,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0027 Post collision measures, e.g. notifying emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01088 wireless
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01259 Brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01272 Belt tensioners
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems

Abstract

An in-vehicle emergency report apparatus is so constructed that the operating power source is switched from a vehicle battery to an auxiliary battery only when a pre-crash safety ECU determines that a vehicle will collide with something. That is, the operating power source is switched from the vehicle battery to the auxiliary battery only when there is a possibility that the vehicle will collide with something to thereby perform emergency report operation. This makes it possible to effectively switch the operating power source from the vehicle battery to the auxiliary battery and to prevent the capacity of the auxiliary battery from being uselessly consumed.

Claims

1. An emergency report apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a power supplying device configured to switch between (i) a vehicle battery power supply state in which power supplied from a vehicle battery is used as operating power and (ii) an auxiliary battery power supply state in which power supplied from an auxiliary battery is used as operating power; and

a control circuit configured

to acquire a result of determination by a collision possibility determining unit that determines whether or not there is a possibility that the vehicle will collide with something and a result of determination by a collision determining unit that determines whether or not the vehicle has collided with something, and

to perform an emergency report operation when the collision determining unit determines that the vehicle has collided with something,

wherein the control circuit causes the power supplying device to make a transition from the vehicle battery power supply state to the auxiliary battery power supply state only when the collision possibility determining unit determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle will collide with something in the vehicle battery power supply state, and

wherein the control circuit causes the collision determining unit to use power supplied from the auxiliary battery as operating power and determine whether or not the vehicle has collided with something.

2. The emergency report apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein when the collision possibility determining unit determines that there is no possibility that the vehicle will collide with something after the power supplying device is caused to make a transition from the vehicle battery power supply state to the auxiliary battery power supply state, the control circuit returns the power supplying device from the auxiliary battery power supply state to the vehicle battery power supply state.

3. The emergency report apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a time counting device configured to count a time that elapses after the power supplying device is caused to make a transition from the vehicle battery power supply state to the auxiliary battery power supply state,

wherein when the collision determining unit does not determine that the vehicle has collided with something and the elapsed time counted by the time counting device reaches a predetermined time, the control circuit determines that there is no possibility that the vehicle collides with something and returns the power supplying device from the auxiliary battery power supply state to the vehicle battery power supply state.

4. An emergency report apparatus for a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a power supplying device configured to switch between (i) a vehicle battery power supply state in which power supplied from a vehicle battery is used as operating power and (ii) an auxiliary battery power supply state in which power supplied from an auxiliary battery is used as operating power; and

a control circuit configured

to acquire a result of determination by a collision possibility determining unit for determining whether or not there is a possibility that a vehicle will collide with something and a result of determination by a collision determining unit for determining whether or not the vehicle has collided with something,

to perform emergency report operation when the collision determining unit determines that the vehicle has collided with something, and

to operate by switching an operation mode between a normal operation mode and a low-power consumption operation mode in which less power is consumed than in the normal operation mode,

wherein when the collision possibility determining unit determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle will collide with something in the normal operation mode, the control circuit switches from the normal operation mode to the low-power consumption operation mode and causes the collision determining unit to determine whether or not the vehicle has collided with something in the low-power consumption operation mode, and

wherein only when the collision determining unit determines that the vehicle has collided with something, the control circuit causes the power supplying device to make a transition from the vehicle battery power supply state to the auxiliary battery power supply state and performs an emergency report operation using power supplied from the auxiliary battery as operating power.

5. The emergency report apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein when the collision possibility determining unit determines that there is no possibility that the vehicle will collide with something in the low-power consumption operation mode, the control circuit returns the operation mode from the low-power consumption operation mode to the normal operation mode.

6. The emergency report apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a time counting device configured to count a time that elapses after the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the low-power consumption operation mode,

wherein when the collision determining unit has not determined that the vehicle has collided with something and the elapsed time counted by the time counting device reaches a predetermined time, the control circuit determines that there is no possibility that the vehicle collides with something and returns the operation mode from the low-power consumption operation mode to the normal operation mode.