Inter-vehicle distance detecting device for automatic tracking of a preceding car

• US 5,216,408 A
• Filed: 05/16/1991
• Issued: 06/01/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Shirakawa, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US07/700,990
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 340/435, 340/903, 340/461, 340/937, 340/904, 340/901, 358/105, 358/126, 180/169, 180/167, 364/424.01, 364/436, 364/456
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/823 Obstacle sensing
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/142 Visual Display Camera, e.g. LCD
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/166 Platooning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/12 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves

Abstract

An inter-vihicle distance detecting device for automatic tracking of a foregoing car which comprises: image sensors for taking images of a foregoing car; displaying means for displaying one of the images of the foregoing car being taken by the image sensors; an image taking window which repeats forward and backward movement horizontally from an end to the other end of a display of the displaying means at a predetermined speed; an image tracking starting switch being operable by a driver; image tracking means for tracking the image of the foregoing car, activated by the image tracking starting switch when the image of the foregoing car enters in the image taking window; and detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between a car of the driver and the foregoing car being displayed on the image taking window.

Claims

1. An inter-vehicle distance detecting device for automatic tracking of a preceding car which comprises:

image sensors for taking images of a preceding car;

displaying means for displaying one of the images of the preceding car being taken by the image sensors;

means for establishing an image taking window and for automatically repeatedly moving said window forward and backward horizontally from one end to the other end of a display of the displaying means at a predetermined speed;

an image tracking starting switch being activated by a driver;

image tracking means for tracking the image of the preceding car, responsive to the image tracking starting switch when the image of the preceding car enters in the image taking window; and

detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between a car of the driver and the preceding car being displayed on the image taking window.

2. A vehicle control apparatus comprising:

a pair of optical lenses, arranged in parallel relation with each other, for receiving an image of an object in front of a vehicle;

a pair of image sensors, each receiving the image from a respective one of said pair of optical lenses, for converting the image into digital information;

first and second memory devices for respectively storing digital information concerning the image from one of said pair of image sensors;

a control device for successively shifting the digital information in said second memory and comparing such information with the digital information stored in said first memory, said control device producing a difference value for each successive shift and determining which of the successive shifts results in a minimum difference value, said control device calculating a first distance interval that is the distance between the vehicle and the object directly in front of the vehicle taking into account the difference value; and

a display device for displaying a window and the image of the object,

wherein said control device includes means for repeatedly moving the window transversely across said display device at a predetermined speed until an actuation switch is activated in response to the image of the object being within the window on said display device.

3. The vehicle control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the window initially repeatedly moves in a horizontal direction across said display device.