System for detecting surrounding conditions of moving body

• US 9,649,972 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2011
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Inventors: Kato, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Houston, Adam
• Application Number:
  US14/110,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20140097748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,231 Days
• Field of Search: 325 77, 362459, 362460, 362465-467
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/00 Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor for lighting vehicle interior B60Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/02 the devices being primarily intended to illuminate the way ahead or to illuminate other areas of way or environments
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/26 the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/34 for indicating change of drive direction B60Q1/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/44 for indicating braking action or preparation for braking, e.g. by detection of the foot approaching the brake pedal
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/46 for giving flashing caution signals during drive, other than signalling change of direction, e.g. flashing the headlights or hazard lights
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2500/30 Arrangements for illuminating different zones in the vehicle, e.g. front/rear, different seats
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/16 Circuits; Control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/283 Steering wheels; Gear levers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/745 using lighting panels or mats, e.g. electro-luminescent panels, LED mats
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/80 Circuits; Control arrangements for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/82 Switches specially adapted for vehicle interior lighting, e.g. switching by tilting the lens
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes

Abstract

This system for detecting the surrounding: conditions of a moving body forcibly changes the state of at least one of a plurality of lighting devices (change from an unlit stats to a lighting state or a blinking state, change in the emission color, or change in the luminance) installed inside the moving body if an object to which attention must be paid during traveling of the moving body is detected in the surroundings of the moving body.

Claims

1. A system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body comprising:

a plurality of illumination devices disposed in a cabin of the moving body so that light emitting faces of the illumination devices are directed into an inside of the cabin, each of said plurality of illumination devices having a switch for switching between a lighting state and an unlit state;

a detector for detecting an object to which attention must be paid around the moving body; and

a controller for changing a state of at least one of said plurality of illumination devices upon detecting said object,

wherein when the object is a lighting rear lamp of a vehicle travelling in front of the moving body, the controller causes one or more of the illumination devices which are disposed in front of a moving body driver'"'"'s seat to light or blink with a color corresponding to a lighting color of said rear lamp.

2. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 1, wherein said rear lamp includes at least one of a stop lamp, a backup lamp, a hazard warning lamp and a turn signal lamp.

3. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of illumination devices include a first illumination device to a fourth illumination device that are disposed in front of the driver'"'"'s seat corresponding to said rear lamp, the controller causes the first illumination device to light with a color corresponding to a lighting color of the stop lamp when the lighting rear lamp is the lighting stop lamp, causes the second illumination device to light with a color corresponding to a lighting color of the backup lamp when the lighting rear lamp is the lighting backup lamp, causes the third or fourth illumination device to emit a light with a color corresponding to a lighting color of the turn signal lamp when the lighting rear lamp is the lighting turn signal lamp, and causes both the third and fourth illumination devices to blink with a color corresponding to a lighting color of the hazard warning lamp when the lighting rear lamp is the lighting hazard warning lamp.

4. A system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body comprising:

a plurality of illumination devices disposed in a cabin of the moving body so that light emitting faces of the illumination devices are directed into an inside of the cabin, each of said plurality of illumination devices having a switch for switching between a lighting state and an unlit state;

a detector for detecting an object to which attention must be paid around the moving body; and

a controller for changing a state of at least one of said plurality of illumination devices upon detecting said object,

wherein when the object detected by the detector is a traffic light, the controller causes one illumination device in a subset of said illumination devices disposed above the driver'"'"'s seat in the moving body to light with a color corresponding to a lighting color of the traffic light.

5. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 4, wherein when the traffic light indicates a direction with an arrow, the controller causes one or more in the subset of said illumination devices which are disposed in the direction indicated by the arrow to light with a predetermined first lighting color and also causes another one in the subset of said illumination devices which is disposed in an opposite direction to the arrow and adjacent to said one or more in the subset lighting with the first lighting color, to light with a second lighting color different from the first lighting color.

6. A system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body comprising:

a plurality of illumination devices disposed in a cabin of the moving body so that light emitting faces of the illumination devices are directed into an inside of the cabin, each of said plurality of illumination devices having a switch for switching between a lighting state and an unlit state;

a detector for detecting an object to which attention must be paid around the moving body; and

a controller for changing a state of at least one of said plurality of illumination devices upon detecting said object,

wherein when the object is an obstacle which the moving body must avoid, the controller increases luminance of said that illumination device as a distance between the obstacle and the moving body decreases or as a relative speed between the moving body and the obstacle increases.

7. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 6, wherein the controller changes a lighting color of said that illumination device from a cold color to a warm color as the distance between the obstacle and the moving body decreases or as the relative speed increases.

8. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 6, wherein the controller increases a blinking speed of said that illumination device as the distance between the obstacle and the moving body decreases or as the relative speed increases.

9. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 6, wherein when the obstacle can hinder a travelling of the moving body, the controller increases the luminance of said that light device as a size of the obstacle increases.

10. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 9, wherein the controller forcibly causes said that illumination device to light or blink with a cold color when the size of the obstacle is small and to light or blink with a warm color when the size of the obstacle is large.

11. The system for detecting surrounding conditions of a moving body according to claim 6, wherein the obstacle is a pedestrian, a bicycle, an emergency vehicle, an obstruction, a wall or an edge stone.