Data recording apparatus for a vehicle

• US 9,349,229 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Instaresponse, LLC, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Yoshiyuki, Uechi, Masaaki, Ishitani, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Soofi, Yazan A
• Application Number:
  US14/350,682
• Publication Number:
  US 20140257594A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,677 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/10 using counting means or digital clocks

Abstract

In order to carry out data recording efficiently, a data recording apparatus for a vehicle in the present invention determines whether a predetermined event occurs in a vehicle. When it is determined that a predetermined event occurs, generally at least data indicating a vehicle state is recorded in a recording part from an occurrence of the predetermined event until a predetermined period of time elapses. Also, it is determined whether, at a time when it is determined that the predetermined event occurs, the recording in the recording part is actually being carried out. When it is determined that the recording is actually being carried out, the data indicating the vehicle state at that time is recorded in the recording part instead of recording the data based on the occurrence of the predetermined event at least from the occurrence of the predetermined event until the predetermined period of time elapses.

Claims

1. A data recording apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

circuitry including;

an event occurrence determination circuitry that determines whether a predetermined event occurs in a vehicle;

a data recording control circuitry that, in a case where the event occurrence determination circuitry determines that the predetermined event occurs, records data indicating a vehicle state in a memory at each predetermined time at least until a predetermined period of time elapses from the occurrence of the predetermined event; and

an on-data-recording determination circuitry that determines whether the recording based on a previous event is actually being carried out by the data recording control circuitry at a time when it is determined by the event occurrence determination circuitry that the predetermined event occurs, wherein

the data recording control circuitry, in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording based on the previous event is actually being carried out at the time when it is determined that the predetermined event occurs, carries out recording of only the data at the time in the memory for the predetermined event, and

the data recording control circuitry, in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording based on the previous event is not actually being carried out at the time when it is determined that the predetermined event occurs, records the data in the memory at each predetermined time at least until the predetermined period of time elapses from the occurrence of the predetermined event, whereas in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording based on the previous event is actually being carried out at the time when it is determined that the predetermined event occurs, continues to record the data in the memory at each predetermined time at least until a predetermined period of time elapses from an occurrence of the previous event, and also records the data in the memory at the time when it is determined that the predetermined event occurs.

2. A data recording apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

circuitry including;

an event occurrence determination circuitry that determines whether a predetermined event occurs in a vehicle;

a first data recording control circuitry that, in a case where the event occurrence determination circuitry determines that the predetermined event occurs, records data indicating a vehicle state at each predetermined time in a memory at least until a predetermined period of time elapses from the occurrence of the predetermined event;

an occurrence time recording control circuitry that records in the memory a time when the predetermined event occurs calculated by using a second timer different from a first timer that counts a time required for generating timing for the recording by the first data recording control circuitry;

an on-data-recording determination circuitry that determines whether the recording is actually being carried out by the first data recording control circuitry at a time when it is determined by the event occurrence determination circuitry that the predetermined event occurs; and

a timer control circuitry that, in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is not being carried out at the time, resets and starts the second timer.

3. The data recording apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the second timer counts an elapsed time from a time when the predetermined event occurs when the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is not being carried out, and

the occurrence time recording control circuitry records, in the memory, as a time when the predetermined event occurs, the elapsed time obtained by the second timer at a time of the recording by the first data recording control circuitry arriving firstly after the occurrence of the predetermined event that occurs when the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is not being carried out or a time of a subsequent occurrence of the predetermined event.

4. The data recording apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the circuitry further includes:

a second data recording control circuitry that, in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is actually being carried out at the time, carries out the recording of the data at the time in the memory instead of the recording of the data by the first data recording control circuitry based on the occurrence of the predetermined event, wherein

in the case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is actually being carried out at the time, the data recorded by the second data recording control circuitry and the time recorded by the occurrence time recording control circuitry are recorded in a manner of being linked with one another.

6. The data recording apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the circuitry further includes:

a second data recording control circuitry that, in a case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is actually being carried out at the time, carries out the recording of the data at the time in the memory instead of the recording of the data by the first data recording control circuitry based on the occurrence of the predetermined event, wherein

in the case where the on-data-recording determination circuitry determines that the recording by the first data recording control circuitry is actually being carried out at the time, the data recorded by the second data recording control circuitry and the time recorded by the occurrence time recording control circuitry are recorded in a manner of being linked with one another.

5. A data recording apparatus for a vehicle comprising:

circuitry including;

an event occurrence determination circuitry that determines whether a predetermined event occurs in a vehicle; and

a data recording control circuitry that, in a case where the event occurrence determination circuitry determines that the predetermined event occurs, records data indicating a vehicle state at each predetermined time in a memory at least from a predetermined period of time before the occurrence of the predetermined event until the occurrence of the predetermined event, wherein

in the data recording control circuitry, the farther from the time of occurrence of the event a current time is, the longer an interval of the predetermined time is, and the closer to the time of occurrence of the event a current time is, the shorter an interval of the predetermined time is.