VEHICLE EMERGENCY CALL DEVICE

• US 20170251348A1
• Filed: 08/19/2015
• Published: 08/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: ISHIHARA, Toshiro, ASAI, Kano
• Granted Patent: US 10,524,104 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/04 using a single signalling line, e.g. in a closed loop
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A vehicle emergency call device equipped to a vehicle includes a condition determination portion determining whether an emergency call condition is satisfied, an emergency call portion transmitting an emergency call to an emergency call center by connecting a communication line with the emergency call center when the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, and an additional information collecting portion collecting, from the vehicle, additional information which indicating more detailed emergency situation of the vehicle. When the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, the emergency call portion connects the communication line with the emergency call center in parallel with collecting of the additional information by the additional information collecting portion.

Claims

1. A vehicle emergency call device equipped to a vehicle comprising:

a condition determination portion determining whether an emergency call condition is satisfied;

an emergency call portion transmitting an emergency call to an emergency call center by connecting a communication line with the emergency call center when the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied; and

an additional information collecting portion collecting, from the vehicle, additional information which enables the emergency call center to grasp more detailed emergency situation of the vehicle,

wherein the emergency call portion includes the additional information collected by the additional information collecting portion in the emergency call, and when the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, the emergency call portion connects the communication line with the emergency call center in parallel with collecting of the additional information by the additional information collecting portion.

2. The vehicle emergency call device according to claim 1, wherein

the additional information collecting portion is capable of collecting, as the additional information, a plurality of additional information pieces having different types,

the additional information collecting portion collects one of the plurality of additional information pieces before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied when the one of the plurality of additional information pieces can be collected before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied,

the vehicle emergency call device further comprises an additional information storing portion which stores the one of the plurality of additional information pieces collected by the additional information collecting portion before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, and

when the emergency call portion transmits the emergency call to the emergency call center by connecting the communication line with the emergency call center, the additional information collecting portion reads out the one of the plurality of additional information pieces stored in the additional information storing portion without newly collecting the additional information, and the emergency call portion reports, to the emergency call center, the one of the plurality of additional information pieces read out from the additional information storing portion.

3. The vehicle emergency call device according to claim 2, wherein

the additional information collecting portion periodically collects the one of the plurality of additional information pieces before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, and

the additional information storing portion stores the one of the plurality of additional information pieces which is newest among a plurality of the one of the plurality of additional information pieces which are periodically collected by the additional information collecting portion before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied.

4. The vehicle emergency call device according to claim 2, wherein

the additional information collecting portion collects the one of the plurality of additional information pieces before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied in every trip which is a predetermined travelling unit of the vehicle, and

the additional information storing portion stores a plurality of the one of the plurality of additional information pieces collected in a plurality of previous trips by the additional information collecting portion before the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied.

5. The vehicle emergency call device according to claim 2, wherein

when a task of connecting the communication line with the emergency call center is completed, the emergency call portion reports, to the emergency call center, the one of the plurality of additional information pieces stored in the additional information storing portion by reading out the one of the plurality of additional information pieces from the additional information storing portion.

6. The vehicle emergency call device according to claim 1, wherein

the additional information collecting portion is capable of collecting, as the additional information, a plurality of additional information pieces having different types,

the additional information collecting portion collects a different one of the plurality of additional information pieces after the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied when the different one of the plurality of additional information pieces needs to be collected after the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, and

for the different one of the plurality of additional information pieces collected after the condition determination portion determines that the emergency call condition is satisfied, the additional information collecting portion forcedly ends collecting of the different one of the plurality of additional information pieces when a predetermined duration is elapsed from a start of the collecting of the different one of the plurality of additional information pieces.