Travel safety system for vehicle
First Claim
1. A travel safety system for a vehicle, comprising:
- an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of the vehicle;
a movement locus estimating means for estimating a future locus of movement for the vehicle;
a relative lateral deviation calculating means for calculating a relative lateral deviation between the vehicle and an on-coming vehicle, based on the result of the detection by said object detecting means and the future locus of movement for the vehicle;
a contact-possibility determining means for determining whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle, based on the relative lateral deviation calculated by said relative lateral deviation calculating means;
a steering-state detecting means for detecting an involuntary steering operation by a driver in a direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle; and
a contact avoiding means for automatically carrying out a contact avoiding operation;
wherein said contact-possibility determining means determines that there is a possibility of contact, when the relative lateral deviation is in a predetermined range, or when the relative lateral deviation is not in a predetermined range and said steering-state detecting means has detected an involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, wherein said contact avoiding means carries out a contact avoiding operation when the relative lateral deviation is not in the predetermined range and said steering-state detecting means has detected an involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, wherein said contact avoiding means inhibits said involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, and wherein said contact avoiding means decreases the steering assisting force generated by the steering device, as the degree of approach of the vehicle to the on-coming vehicle due to the involuntary steering operation by the driver becomes larger.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A relative lateral deviation calculating device calculates a relative lateral deviation between a vehicle and an on-coming vehicle, based on the state of the on-coming vehicle detected by an object detecting device and a future locus of movement for the vehicle estimated by a movement locus estimating device. When the relative lateral deviation is in a predetermined range, a contact-possibility determining device determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle. Even when the relative lateral deviation is not in the predetermined range, if a steering-state detecting device has detected an involuntary steering operation by a driver, a contact avoiding device increases the steering reaction force of the steering wheel to inhibit the steering operation by the driver in a direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle.
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Citations
3 Claims
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1. A travel safety system for a vehicle, comprising:
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an object detecting means for detecting an object existing in the direction of movement of the vehicle;
a movement locus estimating means for estimating a future locus of movement for the vehicle;
a relative lateral deviation calculating means for calculating a relative lateral deviation between the vehicle and an on-coming vehicle, based on the result of the detection by said object detecting means and the future locus of movement for the vehicle;
a contact-possibility determining means for determining whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will come into contact with the on-coming vehicle, based on the relative lateral deviation calculated by said relative lateral deviation calculating means;
a steering-state detecting means for detecting an involuntary steering operation by a driver in a direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle; and
a contact avoiding means for automatically carrying out a contact avoiding operation;
wherein said contact-possibility determining means determines that there is a possibility of contact, when the relative lateral deviation is in a predetermined range, or when the relative lateral deviation is not in a predetermined range and said steering-state detecting means has detected an involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, wherein said contact avoiding means carries out a contact avoiding operation when the relative lateral deviation is not in the predetermined range and said steering-state detecting means has detected an involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, wherein said contact avoiding means inhibits said involuntary steering operation by the driver in the direction for the vehicle to approach the on-coming vehicle, and wherein said contact avoiding means decreases the steering assisting force generated by the steering device, as the degree of approach of the vehicle to the on-coming vehicle due to the involuntary steering operation by the driver becomes larger. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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Specification