FOLLOWING VEHICLE DETECTION AND ALARM DEVICE

• US 20170088050A1
• Filed: 08/10/2016
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Tatsumi, Ryosuke, Mitani, Kousuke, Kanamori, Tetsu
• Granted Patent: US 10,589,669 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: G06V 20/58 Recognition of moving objects or obstacles, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians; Recognition of traffic objects, e.g. traffic signs, traffic lights or roads

Abstract

A following vehicle detection and alarm device comprises a tail camera for shooting an area behind a vehicle of interest at a predetermined frame rate, a frame quantity count unit for counting the number of frames after a following vehicle is shot in a shooting range of the tail camera until the following vehicle reaches a first position behind the vehicle of interest, an alarm instruction output unit for outputting an alarm instruction of notifying the driver of the vehicle of interest that the other vehicle is approaching at a timing set based on the number of frames counted by the frame quantity count unit, and an alarm processing unit for performing a predetermined alarm operation on the driver when the alarm instruction is output by the alarm instruction output unit.

Claims

1. A following vehicle detection and alarm device comprising:

a shooting unit for shooting an area behind a vehicle of interest at a predetermined frame rate;

a frame quantity count unit for counting the number of frames after another vehicle is shot in a shooting range of the shooting unit until the another vehicle reaches a first position behind the vehicle of interest;

an alarm instruction output unit for outputting an alarm instruction of notifying the driver of the vehicle of interest that the another vehicle is approaching at a timing set based on the number of frames counted by the frame quantity count unit; and

an alarm unit for performing a predetermined alarm operation on the driver when the alarm instruction is output by the alarm instruction output unit.

2. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 1,

wherein the alarm instruction output unit sets the timing to be late when the number of frames is large and sets the timing to be early when the number of frames is small.

3. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 2,

wherein the alarm instruction output unit sets the timing such that the alarm operation is performed by the alarm unit when the another vehicle passes a second position closer to the vehicle of interest than the first position.

4. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 1,

wherein when the another vehicle is traveling in the next lane to the lane in which the vehicle of interest is traveling and the vehicle of interest changes its traveling lane to the next lane, the alarm unit outputs a predetermined alarm sound as the alarm operation.

5. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 1,

wherein the alarm unit performs predetermined display for notifying that the another vehicle is approaching as the alarm operation.

6. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 1,

wherein a relationship between the number of frames and the timing corresponding to the number of frames is previously stored in the form of table, and

the alarm instruction output unit sets the timing corresponding to the number of frames with reference to the table.

7. The following vehicle detection and alarm device according to claim 1,

wherein a relationship between the number of frames and the timing corresponding to the number of frames is previously stored in the form of calculation equation, and

the alarm instruction output unit sets the timing corresponding to the number of frames by use of the calculation equation.