Inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus
First Claim
1. An inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus for measuring a distance from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, comprising:
- an optical system having a pair of parallel optical axes,a pair of light receiving devices including (m) optical sensor arrays disposed in parallel at a specified interval such that a longitudinal direction of each of the sensor arrays substantially becomes a vertical direction, and (n) measurement windows set on the respective optical sensor arrays, said light receiving devices being disposed in the longitudinal direction of the optical sensor arrays on image forming surfaces of the pair of the parallel optical axes to obtain image data from the optical sensor arrays,distance detection means to detect distances at (m×
n) points, coordinates of which are specified by sensor line numbers and measurement window addresses,white line detection means connected to the distance detection means, said white line detection means detecting, through detection results obtained by the distance detection means, an optical sensor array among said (m) optical sensor arrays in which an image of a white line is present on a surface of a road where a first vehicle is travelling, andvehicle detection means connected to the white line detection means and the distance detection means, said vehicle detection means detecting a presence of a second vehicle through detection results of the distance detection means for an optical sensor array among said (m) optical sensor arrays where an image of the white line is absent, and detecting at least an inter-vehicle distance to the second vehicle.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inter-vehicle distance to a preceding or following vehicle is reliably determined by using a simple processing, to alert the following vehicle to approach a dangerous range. The distance measurement apparatus includes a pair of light-receiving devices disposed on image-forming surfaces of lenses and having sensor lines and measurement windows on each sensor line at a certain interval, a distance detection device, a white line detection device and a vehicle detection device. The distance detection device detects distances at points, the coordinates of which are specified by the sensor line numbers and measurement window addresses. By using the detection results, the white line detection device detects a sensor line in which a white line on a road surface is present. By using the detection results obtained from the distance detection device relating to the sensor lines in which the white line is not present, the vehicle detection device checks a presence of a vehicle and outputs information on the inter-vehicle distance and the direction of the vehicle. The following vehicle may be alerted by flashing the brake lights.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. An inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus for measuring a distance from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, comprising:
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an optical system having a pair of parallel optical axes, a pair of light receiving devices including (m) optical sensor arrays disposed in parallel at a specified interval such that a longitudinal direction of each of the sensor arrays substantially becomes a vertical direction, and (n) measurement windows set on the respective optical sensor arrays, said light receiving devices being disposed in the longitudinal direction of the optical sensor arrays on image forming surfaces of the pair of the parallel optical axes to obtain image data from the optical sensor arrays, distance detection means to detect distances at (m×
n) points, coordinates of which are specified by sensor line numbers and measurement window addresses,white line detection means connected to the distance detection means, said white line detection means detecting, through detection results obtained by the distance detection means, an optical sensor array among said (m) optical sensor arrays in which an image of a white line is present on a surface of a road where a first vehicle is travelling, and vehicle detection means connected to the white line detection means and the distance detection means, said vehicle detection means detecting a presence of a second vehicle through detection results of the distance detection means for an optical sensor array among said (m) optical sensor arrays where an image of the white line is absent, and detecting at least an inter-vehicle distance to the second vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An inter-vehicle distance measurement apparatus, comprising:
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means for measuring an intervehicle distance from a front vehicle to a following vehicle, said measuring means including an optical system having a pair of parallel optical axes; and
a pair of light receiving devices having at least one optical sensor array disposed such that a longitudinal direction of the optical sensor array substantially becomes a vertical direction, said light receiving devices being disposed in the longitudinal direction of the optical sensor array on image forming surfaces of the pair of the parallel optical axes to obtain the inter-vehicle distance based on image data from the optical sensor array, andalarm output determination means connected to the measuring means, said alarm output determination means determining a dangerous approach of the following vehicle based on the inter-vehicle distance to the following vehicle and a speed of the front vehicle, and informing the following vehicle of the dangerous approach by flashing lights of the front vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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Specification