JPH10272983A - Device to prevent headlight of automobile from being left putting on - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a case oblivious of putting off such illuminating lamps as being lighted when an automobile comes into a tunnel, from occurring. SOLUTION: A state of being turned on-off of a headlight 9 by a light switch 10 is detected by a detection circuit 5. With programming motion in a central processing unit 16 of a processing leans 1, on the basis of map data being stored in a map storage means 3 and one's own car position being detected by a one's own car position detecting means 4, at this side of a tunnel inlet, and at a spot shorter this side than a position where usually a driver lights the lamp, after checking the light went out, when a fact that the light went on is detected at more distant than the position where usually it went out at a tunnel outlet, it is so judged as being oblivious of putting off the light. Guidance after this light-off oblivion is carried out by appealing to the hearing sense of the driver with a voice and asking for this eyesight with a display.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of prompting a driver to turn off a headlight, a vehicle width light, or an illumination light such as an illumination which is turned on when an automobile or the like enters a tunnel, after passing through the tunnel. The present invention relates to a device for preventing lighting of an automobile from being turned off.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a car travels in a tunnel, it is recommended to turn on a light such as a headlight even in the daytime. This is because even if there is lighting in the tunnel, it cannot be said that there is no possibility of suddenly turning off due to a power failure or the like. Some vehicles are equipped with a light controller that detects the brightness around the vehicle and automatically controls the turning on / off of the light. In automobiles and motorcycles not equipped with a light controller, the driver must manually turn on / off the light.

[0003]

When a driver of a car manually turns on / off the light, the driver sometimes forgets to turn off the light after passing through the tunnel. If the user forgets to turn off the light, the pedestrian, the vehicle traveling ahead, and the vehicle in the oncoming lane may be troubled. In addition, if the vehicle is stopped in a parking lot or the like and the engine is stopped, the battery of the vehicle may be exhausted, which may be a cause of battery exhaustion.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to detect the forgetting to turn off the lighting after passing through the tunnel, and to provide guidance to the driver of the car to prevent turning off the lighting, to prevent forgetting to turn off the lighting, to disturb others and cause the battery to run out. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for preventing forgetting to turn off an illumination lamp of a vehicle, which can prevent the occurrence of the lighting.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a position detecting means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, a map storage means for storing map data in advance, and a current position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means is stored in a map. On the basis of the map data stored in the storage means, before the entrance of the tunnel, the driver of the car confirms the turning-off state of the lighting at a position closer to the position where the driver should normally turn on the lighting. When the current position of the vehicle is beyond the exit of the tunnel and the driver of the car detects the lighting state of the lamp at a position before the position where the normal lamp should be turned off, it is determined in advance that the driver has forgotten to turn off the lamp. And a guide unit for performing guidance to prevent a driver from forgetting to turn off the vehicle. According to the present invention, the current position of the car is detected by the position detecting means, and the current position is referred to the map data stored in the map storage means, and is located just before the entrance of the tunnel, so that the driver of the car is When the vehicle is at a position on the nearer side than the position where the normal illumination lamp should be turned on, the guide unit confirms that the illumination lamp of the automobile has been turned off. Thus, it is confirmed that the light is turned off during normal driving in the daytime. When the current position of the car is beyond the exit of the tunnel and the driver of the car is located ahead of the position where the normal lighting should be turned off, if the lighting state of the lighting is detected, it will be forgotten to turn off the lighting. , A guidance to prevent the driver from forgetting to erase is provided. The lighting state of the lighting
For example, it can be detected by detecting whether the illumination of an instrument panel that is turned on / off in conjunction with an illumination lamp in a car is detected.
Before the entrance of the tunnel, make sure that there is no need to turn on the lighting before entering the tunnel, and then provide guidance to prevent forgetting to turn off when the lighting is on at the end of the tunnel Therefore, it is possible to warn the driver of the vehicle and prevent forgetting to turn off the lighting.

[0006] In the present invention, the guide means performs the guidance for preventing forgetting to erase by voice output. According to the present invention, since the guidance to prevent forgetting to turn off is performed by voice output, the driver of the vehicle can intuitively recognize the forgetting to turn off the illumination lamp by hearing. The driver does not need to look away, and can drive safely.

In the present invention, the guide means performs the forgetting-to-turn-off guidance by display. According to the present invention, the guidance to prevent the user from turning off the light is displayed, for example, by turning on the lamp or displaying the character or icon on the screen, so that the driver of the vehicle recognizes visually and intuitively the forgetting to turn off the illumination light. be able to.

In the present invention, the guide means confirms the light-off state at a position where a distance to a tunnel entrance is a predetermined distance. According to the present invention, the light-off state of the lighting is confirmed at a position where the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means is a predetermined distance from the tunnel entrance based on the map data stored in the map storing means.
The predetermined distance is usually a position on the near side of the position where the driver of the car should turn on the lighting in front of the tunnel entrance, so if the car driver turns off the lighting, the surroundings are bright, It is possible to confirm a state where it is not necessary to turn on the illumination lamp.

In the present invention, the guide means confirms the light-off state at a position where a predicted time to reach a tunnel entrance is a predetermined time. According to the present invention, the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection means and the distance from the map data stored in the map storage means to the entrance to the tunnel are estimated by the arrival prediction required for traveling at the current traveling vehicle speed. When the time reaches a predetermined time, the state of turning off the illumination lamp is confirmed. This confirmation position is usually on the near side of the position where the driver of the car turns on the lighting at the entrance of the tunnel, so there is no need to turn on the lighting before turning on when entering the tunnel. Can be surely confirmed.

In the present invention, the guide means detects the lighting state at a position at a predetermined distance from a tunnel exit. According to the present invention, the lighting state of the illumination lamp is detected at a point at a predetermined distance from the exit after passing through the tunnel. Since the predetermined distance from the tunnel exit is usually set before the position where the driver of the car turns off the lighting,
In the case where the illuminating lamp is turned on without forgetting to turn off, the forgetting to turn off the light can be reliably detected.

In the present invention, the guide means detects the lighting state at a position where the vehicle travels for a predetermined time from a tunnel exit. According to the present invention, the lighting state of the illuminating lamp is detected at a point after a lapse of a predetermined time from the exit after passing through the tunnel. Since this is a position ahead of the position where the light is turned off, if it is in the lighting state, it can be reliably detected as forgetting to turn off the illumination lamp.

[0012] In the present invention, the guiding means performs the forgetting-to-turn-off guidance at a position at a predetermined distance from the exit of the tunnel. According to the present invention, when it is detected that the lighting lamp has been forgotten to be turned off, guidance is provided at a predetermined distance from the tunnel exit to prevent forgetting to turn off the lighting lamp, so that the driver of the car forgets to turn off the lighting lamp. It is possible to reliably provide a guidance for preventing the user from forgetting to turn off the vehicle so as to prevent a situation in which the vehicle continues to travel over a long distance.

[0013] In the present invention, the guide means may perform the guide to prevent the user from forgetting to turn off the vehicle at a position at a predetermined time from the exit of the tunnel. According to the present invention, guidance to prevent forgetting to erase is performed at a point where a predetermined time has elapsed from the exit after passing through the tunnel, so that the driver of the automobile can be prevented from continuing running in a state of forgetting to erase for a long time.

In the present invention, the position of the lighting state confirmation at the entrance of the tunnel, the position of the detection of the lighting state at the exit of the tunnel, the position of the guidance for forgetting to erase, and the method of guidance for forgetting to erase are performed by the guiding means. Are provided with setting means capable of setting in advance. According to the present invention, it is possible to set, in the setting means, a check point of the lighting state of the illumination light on the tunnel entrance side, a detection point of the lighting state on the tunnel exit side, a guide point and a method at the time of detecting forgetting to turn off, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to perform a combination or selection as needed by the driver, and to provide guidance for preventing forgetting to erase in a mode corresponding to the driver's request.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic electrical configuration of hardware of a device for preventing a lamp from being turned off for a vehicle as an embodiment of the present invention. The device for preventing forgetting to turn off the lighting of an automobile basically includes a navigation device including a processing unit 1, a display output unit 2, a map storage unit 3, and a vehicle position detection unit 4. The detection circuit 5 detects whether power is supplied from a battery power supply to an illumination such as an instrument panel provided as an instrument panel in the front of the vehicle compartment, and the illumination circuit 5 is in a lighting state. As a device for preventing forgetting to turn off, guidance output for preventing forgetting to turn off is performed via the audio output device 6 and the alarm lamp 7. The conditions for forgetting to erase, the position and method of giving the guidance to forget to erase,
It can be set from an input device 8 such as a remote control keyboard. The headlamp 9 to be prevented from being forgotten to be turned on and off is switched on and off together with illumination such as an instrument panel and a vehicle side light by turning on / off a light switch 10. A power supply voltage is applied from a battery power supply to a regulator 12 via a power supply switch 11 and is stabilized and supplied to each unit.

The map storage means 3 optically reads out map data stored in advance on a CD-ROM disk 13 which is a replaceable storage medium by a CD-ROM driver 14 and a CD-ROM decoder 15 to read a road network. Can be taken out as information. The road network information represents a road as a set of nodes and links. A node is a point on a road and has position coordinates as data. The link has a distance between nodes and various attributes as data. The presence or absence of a tunnel is also included in the link attribute.

The processing means 1 includes a CPU 16, a ROM 17, and a RAM 18. The CPU 16 performs an operation as a navigation device and a device for preventing lighting lamps from being turned off in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 17 in advance. The RAM 18 stores data that need to be temporarily stored according to a program operation. When the processing means searches for a route from the departure place where the vehicle travels to the destination as a route search means, the searched guide route is stored in the RAM. The CPU 16 is connected to each unit via a system bus 19, and is also connected to an interface 20 in the vehicle position detecting means 4.

The interface 20 includes a direction sensor 2
1. The angular velocity sensor 22, the distance sensor 23, and the GPS device 24 are connected. The direction sensor 21 detects the traveling direction of the vehicle as an absolute direction with reference to, for example, geomagnetism. The angular velocity sensor 22 detects a Coriolis force acting according to a change speed in the traveling direction of the vehicle, for example, by a vibration gyro. The distance sensor 23 detects a traveling distance of the vehicle. The GPS device 24 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS artificial satellites and absolutely detects the current position and time. If the change in the traveling direction detected by the azimuth sensor 21 or the angular velocity sensor 22 and the traveling distance detected by the distance sensor 23 are combined,
The current position can also be calculated relative to the position before the vehicle travels.

The detection of the position of the host vehicle is relatively possible if one of the azimuth sensor 21 or the angular velocity sensor 22 is combined with the distance sensor 23. If there is either a relative detected vehicle position or an absolute vehicle position detected by the GPS device 24, map matching with the map data from the map storage unit 3 is performed. , The detection accuracy can be improved.

As a navigation device, a road map is displayed on the screen of a display device 25 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT) included in the display output means 2, and the position of the vehicle is displayed in real time. It has the function of displaying with. The display device 25 includes a display controller 26
The graphic data of roads and the like is displayed in the graphic memory 28 by the graphic controller 27, and the contents of the graphic data are displayed.

FIG. 2 shows an equivalent system configuration of the embodiment of FIG. Since the detection circuit 5 of FIG. 1 detects whether the headlight 9 or the like is turned on or off, it operates as a light state detection unit. The sound output device 6 and the alarm lamp 7 operate as sound output means and lamp output means, respectively. The processing means 1 includes a light state detection means 30 and a guidance output determination means 31 after passing before entering the tunnel according to a program.
Works as

FIG. 3 shows an operation performed by the processing means 1 of FIG. 1 according to a program. When the power switch 11 is turned on, the operation starts from step a1. In step a2, data indicating the vehicle position from the vehicle position detection means 4 is
Obtained via the system bus 19. In step a3, it is determined whether or not the own vehicle position is at a predetermined position before entering the tunnel, that is, before the tunnel entrance, by comparing the own vehicle position with the tunnel position of the map data in the map storage means 3. If the condition of the predetermined position before entering the tunnel is satisfied, at step a4, the state of the light such as the headlight 9 in FIG. 1 is detected by the detecting circuit 5 as the light state detecting means. The detection result is stored in a specific storage area of the RAM 18, for example. In step a5, it is determined whether or not the vehicle position has reached a predetermined position after passing through the tunnel. If the reaching condition is satisfied, step a6
Then, by the detection circuit 5 as a write state detection means,
The state of the light such as the headlight 9 is detected. Step a4
The operation in step a6 corresponds to the operation as the post-passage light state detection means 30 in FIG.

In step a7, the guidance output determination means 31 in FIG. 2 determines whether or not to output a guidance to forget to turn off the light based on the light state detected in steps a4 and a6. When the condition that the light state before entering the tunnel detected in step a4 is off (OFF) and the light state after passing through the tunnel detected in step a6 is on (ON), it is determined that the light is forgotten to be turned off. In step a8, a guidance output indicating that the user has forgotten to turn off the illumination lamp is output. When step a8 is completed, or when the conditions are not satisfied in steps a3, a5, and a7, the process returns to step a2, and the operation up to step a9 is repeated.

FIG. 4 shows the concept of the position where the state of the light is detected. When the tunnel 42 exists in the traveling direction ahead of the road 41 on which the vehicle 40 travels, step a3 in FIG.
Is a predetermined distance L from the entrance of the tunnel 42 to the near side.
1 is established at the point P1. This point P1 is a distance Lon
It is on the near side of the point. The distance Lon is within a range of Ron from here to the inside of the tunnel 42 and is a distance at which the driver of the vehicle 41 normally turns on the headlights 9 and the like even during daytime driving. On the near side of the range Ron, the headlight 9 is not turned on during normal driving in the daytime. Therefore, if the lighting state of the headlamp 9 and the like is detected at the exit side of the tunnel 42 after checking the extinguished state of the headlamp 9 and the like at the point P1, the headlamp 9 is turned on during that time. This means that the operation of the first light switch 10 has been performed. Further, when the headlights 9 and the like are always turned on, such as at night, the lighting state is also detected at the point P1.

On the exit side of the tunnel 42, a range Ro from the inside of the tunnel 42 to the outside by a distance Loff is usually used.
At ff, the driver turns off the headlights 9 and the like by the driver of the vehicle 40. Therefore, when it is detected that the headlight 9 or the like is lit at a point P2 at a predetermined distance L2 which is greater than Loff from the exit of the tunnel 42, if the point P1 on the entrance side is turned off, , Can be determined to be forgotten. The judgment result of forgetting to erase is Tunnel 4
The guide is provided at a point P3 at a predetermined distance L3 from the exit No. 2. Since the point P3 is farther from the exit of the tunnel 42 than the point P2, L2 <L3.

The program stored in the ROM 17 of FIG. 1 enables the above-described predetermined distances L1, L2, and L3 to be arbitrarily set from the input device 8 according to the display screen of the display device 25. Features are also included. The predetermined distances L1, L2, L3 are, for example, 20 m, 20 m, 25 m
Can be set to about. Instead of directly setting the distance, it is also possible to change the function so that the time is set. For the point P1, a predetermined expected arrival time, which is an expected time required to travel the predetermined distance L1 and reach the entrance of the tunnel 42 at a normal traveling speed of the vehicle 40, is set. For points P2 and P3, predetermined distances L2 and L3
The time that is expected to be required to pass through is set as the required time. For example, point P1,
For P2, 5 seconds are set, and for point P3, for example, 6 seconds are set. Immediately after the detection of the forgetting to erase at the point P2, guidance that prompts the driver to pay attention is preferable because it is possible to prevent the driver from continuing to run for a long distance or for a long time in the state of forgetting to erase.

In the guidance output at step a8 in FIG.
This is preferable because the driver of the vehicle can intuitively recognize that he / she has forgotten to turn off the sound and does not need to change his / her line of sight. When the audio output device 6 is not provided, or when the audio output device 6 is provided, audio is being reproduced, or when it is difficult to hear due to ambient noise, FIG.
Is preferable because it can appeal to the driver's vision and intuitively recognize that the user has forgotten to turn it off.

FIG. 5 shows a display screen 5 of the display device 25 of FIG.
0 indicates that the icon 51 is displayed and guidance for forgetting to erase is provided. Instead of the icon 51, a character string may be used to guide the user to forget to turn off the light. These forgetting-to-turn-off guidances are displayed in a part of the image display such as route guidance as a navigation device, and if the light switch 10 is turned off when the detection circuit 5 detects the turning-off operation, the driver can stop the route guidance. Recognize forgetting to erase when viewing the guidance image display,
The user can be prompted to perform a turn-off operation.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the passage of a tunnel is determined on the basis of the current position of a car and map data, and the extinction state of an illumination lamp is confirmed before the tunnel, and the lamp is turned on after passing the tunnel. When the forgetting to turn off is detected by detecting the state, it is possible to surely provide a driver of the car with guidance for preventing turning off, and to prompt the user to turn off the illumination lamp, thereby preventing forgetting to turn off. As a result, it is possible to prevent inconvenience to the pedestrian, the driver of the preceding vehicle, or the driver of the oncoming vehicle, and to prevent the battery from running down due to forgetting to turn off the lighting.

Further, according to the present invention, since the guidance for preventing forgetting to turn off can be given by voice output, the driver of the vehicle can intuitively recognize the forgetting to turn off the lighting lamp by hearing, and can turn on the lighting lamp without distracting the line of sight. The driver can turn off the vehicle safely.

Further, according to the present invention, since the guidance for preventing the lamp from being turned off is provided by a display, the driver of the vehicle can intuitively recognize the forgetting to turn off the lamp by visual sense, and once it is recognized, the operation to easily turn off the lamp is performed. It can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably confirm the state of turning off the illumination lamp at the entrance side of the tunnel at a point at a predetermined distance from the entrance.

Further, according to the present invention, since the extinction state of the illuminating lamp at the entrance side of the illuminating lamp is checked at a point where the estimated arrival time is a predetermined time, the illuminating lamp is not turned on before entering the tunnel. Can be surely confirmed.

Further, according to the present invention, the lighting state of the illumination lamp is detected at a point at a predetermined distance from the exit after passing through the tunnel, so that if the illumination lamp is lit without forgetting to turn it off, it is possible to reliably detect it. The driver's attention can be surely urged by the guidance to prevent forgetting to erase based on the result.

According to the invention, after passing through the tunnel,
After a lapse of a predetermined time from the exit, the lighting state of the illumination lamp is detected,
If it has been detected, it is forgotten to turn off the light, and the prevention guidance is performed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect the forgetting to turn off the illumination lamp and to alert the driver of the automobile.

According to the present invention, the driver of the automobile
After passing through the tunnel, it is possible to immediately recognize the forgetting to turn off the illumination lamp at the point at a predetermined distance from the exit by the turning-off prevention guide, so that it is possible to prevent the automobile from running in the forgetting-to-turn off state over a long distance.

Further, according to the present invention, the driver of the automobile receives a guidance for preventing forgetting to turn off the vehicle at a point after a predetermined time has passed after passing through the tunnel. Can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, the setting means
It is possible to set the position for checking the lighting state at the entrance of the tunnel to prevent forgetting to turn off, the position for detecting the lighting state at the exit, and the point and method for providing guidance to prevent forgetting to turn off the vehicle. It is possible to provide guidance for preventing the driver from turning off the lamp in a state where the driver needs it, and to surely turn off the illumination lamp.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functions realized by a program operation of a processing unit of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a processing unit of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between traveling of a car and a tunnel.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of image display for preventing forgetting to erase;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing means 2 Display means 3 Map storage means 4 Own vehicle position detecting means 5 Detection circuit 6 Audio output device 7 Alarm lamp 8 Input device 9 Headlight 10 Light switch 13 CD-ROM disk 16 CPU 17 ROM 18 RAM 21 Direction sensor Reference Signs List 22 each speed sensor 23 distance sensor 24 GPS device 25 display device 30 light state detection means after passing before entering tunnel 31 guidance output determination means

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, a map storing means for storing map data in advance, and a map for storing a current position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means in a map storing means. Based on the data, the driver of the car confirms that the lights are off at a position just before the tunnel entrance and closer to the position where the normal lights should be turned on, and the current position of the car is at the exit of the tunnel. First, when the driver of the car detects the lighting state of the lighting at a position ahead of the position where the normal lighting should be turned off, it is determined that the lighting has been forgotten to be turned off. And a guiding means for performing the following operation. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance means performs the guidance for preventing forgetting to turn off by voice output. 3. The device for preventing forgetting to turn off the lighting of an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the guide means performs the guide for preventing forgetting to turn off by displaying. 4. The illuminating light for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein said guide means confirms said off state at a position where a distance to a tunnel entrance is a predetermined distance. Device to prevent forgetting to turn off. 5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the guide unit confirms the light-off state at a position where a predicted time to reach a tunnel entrance is a predetermined time. Device to prevent forgetting to turn off the lighting. 6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said guide means detects said lighting state at a position at a predetermined distance from a tunnel exit. apparatus. 7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the guide means detects the lighting state at a position where the vehicle has traveled from a tunnel exit for a predetermined time. Prevention device. 8. The forgetting to turn off the lighting of the vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said guiding means performs said forgetting to prevent turning off at a position at a predetermined distance from an exit of a tunnel. Prevention device. 9. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said guidance means performs said guidance for preventing the user from turning off the light at a predetermined time from the exit of the tunnel. Prevention device. 10. A position for confirming a turn-off state at a tunnel entrance side, a position for detecting a turn-on state at a tunnel exit side, a position for forgetting to turn off, and a method for forgetting to turn off performed by the guide means. 2. An apparatus for preventing forgetting to turn off an illumination light of a vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising setting means which can be set in advance.