Vehicular information providing device

• US 20070179680A1
• Filed: 02/07/2005
• Published: 08/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nippon Seiki Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nippon Seiki Company Limited
• Inventors: Tamura, Shigeaki
• Application Number:
  US10/590,321
• Publication Number:
  US 20070179680A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 5/00 Arrangement or adaptation of acoustic signal devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 , e.g. haptic signalling
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0373 Voice control in general G10L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention

Abstract

An information providing apparatus for a vehicle includes a control unit 202 that inputs information of the vehicle through at least one of a vehicle information terminal 212 and a multiplex communication input/output unit 213, creates, from at least warning content of the information, warning aural information including at least a combination of a sound effect and a voice, causes an aural information providing unit 240 to operate based on the warning aural information, and changes the warning aural information for each scene in which a user of the vehicle is placed.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus for a vehicle, characterized by comprising:

an aural information providing unit to aurally notify various states of a vehicle; and

a control unit that inputs information of the vehicle through at least one of a vehicle information terminal and a multiplex communication input/output unit, creates from at least warning content of the information, warning aural information including at least a combination of a sound effect and a voice, causes the aural information providing unit to operate based on the warning aural information, and changes the warning aural information for each scene in which a user of the vehicle is placed.

2. The information providing apparatus for the vehicle as recited in claim 1, characterized in that the control unit identifies the scene, based on the input of the information, from any one state of an engine state of the vehicle, a state of the vehicle at a time of start of traveling, a state of the vehicle during traveling, a state of lighting of a light of the vehicle, and a state of a getting-off operation of the user.

3. The information providing apparatus for the vehicle as recited in claim 1, characterized in that the control unit identifies the scene, based on the input of the information, from a combination of at least two states of an engine state of the vehicle, a state of the vehicle at a time of start of traveling, a state of the vehicle during traveling, a state of lighting of a light of the vehicle, and a state of a getting-off operation of the user.

4. The information providing apparatus for the vehicle as recited in claim 1, characterized in that the control unit changes at least one of the number of times of reproduction of the voice, reproduction sequence of the sound effect and the voice, and a tone color of the sound effect to create the warning aural information.

5. The information providing apparatus for the vehicle as recited in claim 1, characterized in that the control unit has a customize mode to register various settings of the aural information providing unit, and includes an input unit to determine contents of the various settings in the customize mode, and a storage unit to register the contents of the various settings.