Vehicular sound effect generating apparatus

• US 8,041,053 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2007
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Yasunori, Sakamoto, Kosuke, Takahashi, Akira, Inoue, Toshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin; Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLAIR, KILE O
• Application Number:
  US11/727,239
• Publication Number:
  US 20070234879A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,667 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 381/86
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/14 during execution voice controlled instruments G10H5/005
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2250/381 Road, i.e. sounds which are part of a road, street or urban traffic soundscape, e.g. automobiles, bikes, trucks, traffic, vehicle horns, collisions
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 7/02 in which amplitudes at successive sample points of a tone waveform are stored in one or more memories
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 15/02 Synthesis of acoustic waves synthesis of speech G10L13/00

Abstract

A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus has a controller for determining whether a transmission on a vehicle is a manual transmission or an automatic transmission based on whether a clutch signal is generated or not, and automatically changing weighting gain characteristics as acoustic correcting characteristics stored in a sound pressure adjuster depending on the determined transmission. The vehicular sound effect generating apparatus generates a sound effect in a vehicle cabin depending on the manual transmission or the automatic transmission.

Claims

1. A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus comprising:

a waveform data table for storing waveform data in one cyclic period;

reference signal generating means for generating a reference signal by successively reading the waveform data from said waveform data table;

running state detecting means for detecting a running state of a vehicle;

control means having acoustic correcting means having acoustic correcting characteristics depending on the running state of the vehicle, for generating a control signal by using said acoustic correcting means by acoustically changing said reference signal depending on the running state of the vehicle detected by said running state detecting means;

output means for outputting said control signal as a sound effect; and

transmission determining means for determining whether a transmission on the vehicle is a manual transmission or an automatic transmission;

wherein said control means changes said acoustic correcting characteristics of said acoustic correcting means depending on the transmission determined by said transmission determining means.

2. A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said running state of said vehicle comprises an engine rotation frequency change;

and

said acoustic correcting characteristics comprise output gain characteristics corresponding to said engine rotation frequency change;

wherein when said engine rotation frequency change exceeds a predetermined threshold, the output gain characteristics for said manual transmission are set to values greater than the output gain characteristics for said automatic transmission.

3. A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said predetermined threshold comprises an engine rotation frequency change for an AT vehicle fitted with the automatic transmission upon full throttle opening at a first gear position.

4. A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein if said transmission determining means judges that the transmission on the vehicle is a manual transmission, when said control means changes said acoustic correcting characteristics, said control means judges that the engine rotation frequency change in excess of an engine rotation frequency change for the manual transmission upon full throttle opening at a first gear position represents a transition state rather than an accelerated state, and sets the output gain characteristics to characteristics which are reduced as the engine rotation frequency change increases or characteristics which remain constant as the engine rotation frequency change increases.

5. A vehicular sound effect generating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said control means is provided by an ECU which is shared by an AT vehicle having the automatic transmission and an MT vehicle having the manual transmission, said control means having a ROM storing output gain characteristics used by the AT vehicle having the automatic transmission and output gain characteristics used by the MT vehicle having the manual transmission.