Vehicular emergency alert device

• US 9,862,342 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2015
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Masahiro, Iwata, Kengo, Kosaka, Masanobu, Arimi, Hikari, Fujita, Risa, Kimura, Yoshikata
• Primary Examiner(s): Dager, Jonathan M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goldman, Richard A
• Application Number:
  US15/024,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20160236639A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 701 314, 701 315, 701 36, 701 45, 701 49, 701301, 701515, 701519, 280734, 280735, 180271, 180274, 180281, 342457, 3404255, 340436, 340989
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0207 Wire harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0027 Post collision measures, e.g. notifying emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0136 responsive to actual contact with an obstacle , e.g. to vehicle deformation, bumper displacement or bumper velocity relative to the vehicle monitoring crash strength in combination with passenger seat detection B60R21/01558
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/06 using rotary motors
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence

Abstract

A vehicular emergency alert device mounted on a vehicle (100) and configured to issue an emergency alert signal to notify an emergency service center outside the vehicle of a location of the vehicle in the event of a collision of the vehicle includes: a collision detecting unit (11) that detects the collision of the vehicle (100) to output a collision detection signal; an emergency alert unit (13) that issues an emergency alert signal in response to the collision detection signal and relays the collision detection signal to the vehicle; and one or more modules (12) each of which performs a predetermined operation in response to the collision detection signal relayed by the emergency alert unit (13).

Claims

1. A vehicular emergency alert device mounted on a vehicle and configured to issue an emergency alert signal to notify an emergency service center outside the vehicle of a location of the vehicle in an event of a collision of the vehicle, the vehicular emergency alert device comprising:

a collision detecting unit that detects the collision of the vehicle to output a collision detection signal;

an emergency alert unit that issues the emergency alert signal in response to the collision detection signal; and

one or more modules each of which automatically performs a predetermined operation in response to the collision detection signal, wherein

the collision detecting unit outputs the collision detection signal into the emergency alert unit,

the emergency alert unit outputs the collision detection signal into the one or more modules,

at least one of the one or more modules is disposed in a rear portion of the vehicle, and

the collision detecting unit and the emergency alert unit are disposed closer to a center portion of an under body of the vehicle than the one or more modules.

2. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 1, wherein

the collision detecting unit and the emergency alert unit are adjacent to each other in the center portion of the under body of the vehicle, and

the one or more modules are disposed at a plurality of locations in the vehicle.

3. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 2, wherein

at least one of the one or more modules is a door lock control module disposed in the rear portion of the vehicle and configured to unlock a door of the vehicle in response to the collision detection signal, and

a wire harness that transmits the collision detection signal relayed by the emergency alert unit to the door lock control module extends along a side sill of the vehicle.

4. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 1, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and a relay of the collision detection signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay output from the micro-computer and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with a relay control signal output from the micro-computer.

5. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 1, wherein

the emergency alert unit

includes a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

outputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit out of the vehicle as a collision detection signal for a relay without changing the collision detection signal.

6. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 1, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit.

7. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 2, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and a relay of the collision detection signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay output from the micro-computer and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with a relay control signal output from the micro-computer.

8. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 3, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and a relay of the collision detection signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay output from the micro-computer and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with a relay control signal output from the micro-computer.

9. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 2, wherein

the emergency alert unit

includes a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

outputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit out of the vehicle as a collision detection signal for a relay without changing the collision detection signal.

10. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 3, wherein

the emergency alert unit

includes a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal and an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

outputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit out of the vehicle as a collision detection signal for a relay without changing the collision detection signal.

11. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 2, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit.

12. The vehicular emergency alert device of claim 3, wherein

the emergency alert unit includes

a micro-computer that controls an issue of the emergency alert signal,

an input circuit that inputs the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit to the micro-computer, and

an output circuit that drives a new collision detection signal for a relay and outputs the new collision detection signal out of the vehicle in accordance with the collision detection signal received from the collision detecting unit.