Vehicle periphery monitoring device

• US 6,452,533 B1
• Filed: 02/14/2000
• Issued: 09/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Kodama, Katsuhisa, Yamabuchi, Hiroshi, Matsuoka, Katsuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Lobo, Ian J.
• Application Number:
  US09/503,116
• Time in Patent Office: 946 Days
• Field of Search: 342/70-72, 342/175, 340/903, 340/904, 340/435, 340/436
• US Class Current: 342/70
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9315 Monitoring blind spots
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9322 using additional data, e.g. driver condition, road state or weather data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93274 on the side of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/3266 using the mirror of the vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle periphery monitoring device includes a transmitting circuit 3 for generating a transmission wave, an antenna 4 installed on the periphery or in the interior of a door mirror of a subject vehicle for radiating the transmission wave generated from the transmitting circuit as a formed beam having a directivity which propagates over a region expanding over an adjacent lane area from side portions of the subject vehicle toward the rear portion thereof, a receiving circuit 6 for receiving a reflected wave from an object which is in the periphery of the subject vehicle through an antenna 5, an arithmetically operating circuit 2 for arithmetically operating a distance between the subject vehicle and the object on the basis of a period of time required since the transmission wave generated from the transmitting circuit is radiated from the antenna until the transmission wave is reflected by the object and received by the receiving circuit and arithmetically operating a relative velocity from Doppler frequency of a received electric wave or a value of differential from an arithmetically operated distance to judge the risk of collision with the object on the basis of those arithmetically operated results, and LEDs 7 and 8 for announcing the judgement result of the arithmetically operating circuit 2 to a driver in response to the risk.

Claims

1. A vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising:

a transmitting circuit for generating a transmission wave;

an antenna installed on the periphery or in the interior of a door mirror of a subject vehicle for radiating the transmission wave through said door mirror;

a receiving circuit for receiving a reflected wave from an object which is in the periphery of the subject vehicle by said antenna through said door mirror;

arithmetically operating means for arithmetically operating a distance and for judging the risk of collision with the object; and

announcing means for announcing the judgement result by said arithmetically operating means,

wherein said arithmetically operating means, if the arithmetically operated distance is equal to or less than a given value, operates said announcing means to announce that the object is at a relatively short distance from the subject vehicle.

2. The vehicle periphery monitoring device as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said door mirror has a mirror surface on which reflective films which reflect the wavelengths of a visible light but transmits the electromagnetic waves of several G to 100 GHz are deposited.

3. The vehicle periphery monitoring device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said arithmetically operating means, if the arithmetically operated distance exceeds the given value, judges a safe inter-vehicle distance according to the arithmetically operated relative velocity, and if said arithmetically operating means judges that an actual distance is shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance, it operates said announcing means to announce that the actual distance to the object is shorter than the safe inter-vehicle distance.

4. The vehicle periphery monitoring device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said arithmetically operating means varies a judgement level of the safe inter-vehicle distance according to a weather condition when judging the safe inter-vehicle distance.

5. The vehicle periphery monitoring device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said antenna comprises a plane patch array antenna.

6. The vehicle periphery monitoring device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said announcing means comprises an LED which is disposed on a lower portion of a mirror surface of said door mirror and announces the judgement result by said arithmetically operating means to the driver in response to the risk.