Collision avoidance system for vehicles
First Claim
1. Collision avoidance apparatus mounted on a host vehicle to detect the presence of an adjacent vehicle within a monitored zone, comprising a detector module mounted on the host vehicle including a plurality of discrete sensor systems, characterized by each of said sensor systems comprisingemitting means for emitting a beam of light energy into a unique portion of the monitored zone,sensing means, having a field of view that includes only said beam, for sensing the light energy of the portion of said beam which is reflected from a surface on the adjacent vehicle that occupies said portion of the monitored zone, and for generating detection signals, andprocessing means for receiving and processing the detection signals generated by the sensing means of all of said sensor systems to determine the presence of the adjacent vehicle in the monitored zone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A collision avoidance system includes an object detection module (50) mounted on a vehicle (54) for detecting the presence of an object (68) within a monitored zone of space (56) adjacent the vehicle (54). The detection unit (50) emits a plurality of beams (66) of infrared energy and detects the reflection of such energy from objects (68) within the zone. The detection module (50) is typically activated by the host vehicle'"'"'s electrical turn signal, The detection module (50) includes a plurality of associated pairs of light emitting diodes (134) and photosensitive detectors (128) for sensing the reflected light.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. Collision avoidance apparatus mounted on a host vehicle to detect the presence of an adjacent vehicle within a monitored zone, comprising a detector module mounted on the host vehicle including a plurality of discrete sensor systems, characterized by each of said sensor systems comprising
emitting means for emitting a beam of light energy into a unique portion of the monitored zone, sensing means, having a field of view that includes only said beam, for sensing the light energy of the portion of said beam which is reflected from a surface on the adjacent vehicle that occupies said portion of the monitored zone, and for generating detection signals, and processing means for receiving and processing the detection signals generated by the sensing means of all of said sensor systems to determine the presence of the adjacent vehicle in the monitored zone.
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15. Collision avoidance apparatus mounted on a host vehicle to detect the presence of an adjacent vehicle within a monitored zone, comprising a plurality of detector modules mounted on the host vehicle including a plurality of discrete sensor systems, characterized by each of said sensor systems comprising
emitting means for emitting a beam of light energy into a unique portion of the monitored zone, sensing means, having a field of view that includes only said beam, for sensing the light energy of the portion of said beam which is reflected from a surface on the adjacent vehicle that occupies said portion of the monitored zone, and for generating detection signals, and processing means for receiving and processing the detection signals generated by the sensing means of all of said sensor systems to determine the presence of the adjacent vehicle in the monitored zone. and control means which generate control signals to sequentially and intermittently operate the emitting means and the sensing means of all said sensor systems.
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18. Collision avoidance apparatus for use on a host vehicle to detect the presence of an adjacent vehicle within a monitored zone, comprising a detector module mounted on the host vehicle including a plurality of discrete sensor systems, each of said sensor systems comprising
an LED for emitting a beam of infrared energy into a unique portion of the monitored zone, sensing means having a field of view that includes only said beam and including a photodetector for sensing the infrared energy of said beam which is reflected from the adjacent vehicle when it occupies said portion of the monitored zone and for generating detection signals, and means for receiving and processing the detection signals generated by the sensing means of all sensor systems to determine the presence of the adjacent vehicle in the monitored zone.
Specification