Safety system for vehicles

• US 5,335,176 A
• Filed: 11/30/1992
• Issued: 08/02/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Masahide
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAY, JULIE
• Application Number:
  US07/982,664
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424.05, 364/566, 364/571.07, 280/748
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/143 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/125 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/18 Braking system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18145 Cornering
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/105 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/109 Lateral acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention

Abstract

A safety system for vehicles comprises a sensor for detecting steering angles, a sensor for detecting speeds of the vehicle, a sensor for detecting lateral accelerations of the vehicle, and a discriminating unit having a table wherein the relationships between vehicle speeds and lateral accelerations are classified for each of different ranges of steering angles into a safety region and a hazardous region with respect to the state of the vehicle. The discriminating unit is adapted to judge the state of the vehicle from the results of detection by the respective sensors with reference to the table and to give an alarm to the driver when the state of the vehicle has come out of the safety region into the hazardous region.

Claims

1. A safety system for vehicles comprising a steering angle detecting means, a means for detecting speeds of the vehicle, a means for detecting lateral accelerations of the vehicle, and a discriminating means having a table wherein the relationships between vehicle speeds and lateral accelerations are classified for each of different ranges of steering angles into a safety region and a hazardous region with respect to the state of the vehicle, the discriminating means being adapted to judge the state of the vehicle from the results of detection by the respective detecting means with reference to the table and to give an alarm to the driver when the state of the vehicle has come out of the safety region into the hazardous region, the discriminating means storing an initial degree of hazard upon the state of the vehicle coming out of the safety region into the hazardous region and recognizing that the current degree of hazard has become greater than previously when exceeding the initial degree of hazard, the discriminating means controlling a speed reduction device to brake the vehicle when the state of the vehicle in the hazardous region has become greater than previously in the degree of hazard.

2. The safety system for vehicle as defined in claim 1 which further comprises a lateral acceleration calculating means for calculating the lateral acceleration of the vehicle from the result of the detection by the steering angle detecting means and the result of detection by the vehicle speed detecting means.