Distance measuring device for a vehicle
First Claim
1. A distance measuring device for a vehicle, adapted to emit electromagnetic waves forward for a scan both in horizontal and vertical directions, to measure a distance to an object based on reflected waves therefrom and to judge whether said object is a vehicle or not;
- said distance measuring device comprising;
vehicle recognizing means for judging whether or not a recognized vehicle is a front going vehicle that is traveling in the traffic lane in which own vehicle is traveling;
range judging means for judging whether or not the distance to an object in front is within a specified preset range; and
vehicle confirming means for confirming an object to be a vehicle at later scans if said object has been judged by said range judging means to be at a distance within said specified preset range and if a first condition and a second condition are satisfied;
wherein said first condition is that said object is judged by said vehicle recognizing means to be a front going vehicle continuously over a time longer than a preset minimum time length, andwherein said second condition is that the difference between the distance to said object measured by a scan that is earlier than said later scans and is the highest or nearly the highest in the vertical direction and the measured distance to a front going vehicle corresponding to said object is within a predetermined range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distance measuring device for a vehicle emits electromagnetic waves forward for a scan both in horizontal and vertical directions. It is judged from received light whether or not the distance to a detected object is within a specified preset range. If the distance is found to be within this range and if at least two specified conditions are satisfied, this object is regarded as a vehicle in the subsequent scans and a flag is set to this effect. One of these two conditions requires this object to have been judged as being a front going vehicle continuously over a time longer than a preset minimum time length. The second condition is that the difference between the distance to this object measured by a scan that is the highest or nearly the highest in the vertical direction and the measured distance to a front going vehicle corresponding to the object is within a predetermined range.
15 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A distance measuring device for a vehicle, adapted to emit electromagnetic waves forward for a scan both in horizontal and vertical directions, to measure a distance to an object based on reflected waves therefrom and to judge whether said object is a vehicle or not;
- said distance measuring device comprising;
vehicle recognizing means for judging whether or not a recognized vehicle is a front going vehicle that is traveling in the traffic lane in which own vehicle is traveling; range judging means for judging whether or not the distance to an object in front is within a specified preset range; and vehicle confirming means for confirming an object to be a vehicle at later scans if said object has been judged by said range judging means to be at a distance within said specified preset range and if a first condition and a second condition are satisfied; wherein said first condition is that said object is judged by said vehicle recognizing means to be a front going vehicle continuously over a time longer than a preset minimum time length, and wherein said second condition is that the difference between the distance to said object measured by a scan that is earlier than said later scans and is the highest or nearly the highest in the vertical direction and the measured distance to a front going vehicle corresponding to said object is within a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- said distance measuring device comprising;
Specification