APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ILLUMINATION RANGE OF VEHICLE LIGHTS
First Claim
1. An apparatus that is mounted to a vehicle and controls an illumination range of headlights of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- acquiring means for acquiring presence information that indicates information as to whether or not another vehicle is present in a lateral or rear direction relative to the vehicle; and
changing means for changing the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range when the acquiring means acquire presence information indicating presence of the other vehicle,whereinthe acquiring means is configured to acquire a relative motion vector indicating relative travel directions between the other vehicle and the vehicle, in addition to the presence information, andthe changing means i) estimate a moving time period that indicates time taken for the other vehicle to enter the illumination range, on the basis of the relative motion vector, the moving time period depending on where the other vehicle is present in the lateral or rear direction, and ii) change the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range after lapse of a wait time period that is set with the moving time period as being an upper limit.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A light control system acquires presence information that indicates whether or not another vehicle is present in a lateral or rear direction relative to an own vehicle. If presence information indicates the presence of another vehicle, the illumination range of the headlights of the vehicle is changed so as to be narrower. Thus, when another vehicle enters the illumination range from a lateral direction relative to the vehicle equipped with the system, the illumination range of the lights of the vehicle is changed to a narrower range before the entry into the illumination range.
13 Citations
8 Claims
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1. An apparatus that is mounted to a vehicle and controls an illumination range of headlights of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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acquiring means for acquiring presence information that indicates information as to whether or not another vehicle is present in a lateral or rear direction relative to the vehicle; and changing means for changing the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range when the acquiring means acquire presence information indicating presence of the other vehicle, wherein the acquiring means is configured to acquire a relative motion vector indicating relative travel directions between the other vehicle and the vehicle, in addition to the presence information, and the changing means i) estimate a moving time period that indicates time taken for the other vehicle to enter the illumination range, on the basis of the relative motion vector, the moving time period depending on where the other vehicle is present in the lateral or rear direction, and ii) change the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range after lapse of a wait time period that is set with the moving time period as being an upper limit. - View Dependent Claims (4, 7)
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2. (canceled)
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3. (canceled)
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5. (canceled)
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6. (canceled)
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8. A method for controlling an illumination range of headlights of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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acquiring i) presence information that indicates information as to whether or not another vehicle is present in a lateral or rear direction relative to the vehicle and ii) a relative motion vector indicating relative travel directions between the other vehicle and the vehicle; estimating a moving time period that indicates time taken for the other vehicle to enter the illumination range, on the basis of the relative motion vector, when the presence information is acquired, the moving time period depending on where the other vehicle is present in the lateral or rear direction; and
presence information is acquired, the moving time period depending on where the other vehicle is present in the lateral or rear direction; andchanging the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range after lapse of a wait time period that is set with the moving time period as being an upper limit.
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Specification