Sound-based vehicle safety system
First Claim
1. A safety system for a host vehicle whose driver can be protected from audible noise, said safety system comprising:
- (a) one or more directionally discriminating microphones on said host vehicle that discriminate against audible noise made by said host vehicle,(b) one or more loudspeakers positioned so that said driver can clearly hear sounds produced by said loudspeakers(c) signal processing means whose functions include amplifying signals from said microphones and feeding amplified signals from said microphones to said loudspeakers,said microphones sensing sounds made by objects in said host vehicles environment, and said safety system is configured so that said driver hears reproductions of the sounds made by nearby vehicles that are close enough to said host vehicle that said driver should be aware of said nearby vehicles for purposes of safe driving, said driver can approximately locate by ear the position of said nearby vehicles that he or she apparently hears, and said driver is generally unaware of sounds from said safety system that originate from said host vehicle, whereby said driver is made aware of the presence of said nearby vehicles behind or beside said host vehicle, and said directionally discriminating microphones in combination with said signal processing means greatly improve the quality of sounds provided to said driver so that said driver is not annoyed by additional noise from said host vehicle, said signal processing achieving said improvement in signal quality in part by continuously, or nearly continuously, changing the gain for at least one part of the audio spectrum based on signal intensity in another part of the audio spectrum, thus exploiting the directional property of said microphones and the frequency characteristics of the sound of vehicle tires rolling on pavement.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A motor vehicle safety device allows the driver to hear nearby vehicles, so the driver can tell by ear when vehicles are in his blind spots, without significantly increasing the sound level inside the vehicle when there are no vehicles close to the host vehicle'"'"'s blind spot. One benefit of this invention is the blind spot alert, or blind spot warning. Another benefit is that, because this invention communicates aural information from the host vehicle'"'"'s environment to the driver, the driving experience is sensually richer and more interesting. The driver remains more alert and focused on the driving task. Elements of this invention, all of which are inexpensive, include directionally selective microphones (20) mounted on the vehicle, electronic signal processing (22), and loudspeakers (24) that are mounted close to the ears of the driver.
46 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A safety system for a host vehicle whose driver can be protected from audible noise, said safety system comprising:
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(a) one or more directionally discriminating microphones on said host vehicle that discriminate against audible noise made by said host vehicle, (b) one or more loudspeakers positioned so that said driver can clearly hear sounds produced by said loudspeakers (c) signal processing means whose functions include amplifying signals from said microphones and feeding amplified signals from said microphones to said loudspeakers, said microphones sensing sounds made by objects in said host vehicles environment, and said safety system is configured so that said driver hears reproductions of the sounds made by nearby vehicles that are close enough to said host vehicle that said driver should be aware of said nearby vehicles for purposes of safe driving, said driver can approximately locate by ear the position of said nearby vehicles that he or she apparently hears, and said driver is generally unaware of sounds from said safety system that originate from said host vehicle, whereby said driver is made aware of the presence of said nearby vehicles behind or beside said host vehicle, and said directionally discriminating microphones in combination with said signal processing means greatly improve the quality of sounds provided to said driver so that said driver is not annoyed by additional noise from said host vehicle, said signal processing achieving said improvement in signal quality in part by continuously, or nearly continuously, changing the gain for at least one part of the audio spectrum based on signal intensity in another part of the audio spectrum, thus exploiting the directional property of said microphones and the frequency characteristics of the sound of vehicle tires rolling on pavement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A safety system for a host vehicle whose driver can be protected from audible noise, said safety system comprising:
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(a) one or more microphones on said host vehicle (b) one or more loudspeakers positioned so that said driver can clearly hear sounds produced by said loudspeakers (c) signal processing means said microphones sensing sounds made by objects in said host vehicles environment, and said safety system is configured so that said driver hears reproductions of the sounds made by nearby vehicles that are close enough to said host vehicle that said driver should be aware of said nearby vehicles for purposes of safe driving, said driver can approximately locate by ear the position of said nearby vehicles that he or she apparently hears, whereby said driver is made aware of the presence of said nearby vehicles behind or beside said host vehicle, and said signal processing means includes a function that exploits the spectral nature of tire noise and the acoustic properties of said host vehicle and said nearby vehicles, and said function includes automatically changing gains in one part of the audible spectrum based on signal intensity in another part of the audible spectrum so as to make said driver less aware of sounds originating from said host vehicle.
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Specification