JP2731899B2 - Vehicle turn signal control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a turn signal control device for controlling the operation of a turn signal of a vehicle.

[0002]

A conventional mechanical turn signal is automatically turned off by detecting that the return angle of the steering exceeds a predetermined angle after operating the turn signal when turning right or left or changing lanes. However, the turn signal may be turned off even during the course change depending on the steering operation at the time of the course change. In this case, the driver has to operate to turn on the turn signal again, which is troublesome. Further, when the vehicle travels with the turn signal turned off during the course change, the following vehicle or the like cannot confirm the intention of the course change, and there is a risk of a rear-end collision or the like.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-231241 discloses that a position of a host vehicle is detected from a road image captured by a video camera a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle, and the host vehicle moves across a lane division line from the detected position. When it is detected that the blinker operating state of the own vehicle is appropriate, the blinker control device that controls to switch the blinker to the appropriate operating state when it is determined that the blinker is not appropriate is provided. Proposed.

However, the control according to the prior art is inconsistent with the original correct course changing method of instructing a succeeding vehicle or the like to change the course with a turn signal and then moving the own vehicle as instructed.

[0005] Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the position of the host vehicle is detected from the road image, it takes time to analyze the image, and the turn signal correction timing tends to be delayed. For this reason, there is a possibility that danger such as contact or collision with another vehicle traveling on the changed course may occur. Further, in the imaging by the video camera, the accuracy of the road image is reduced at night or in bad weather, so that there is a problem that the position detection of the own vehicle becomes difficult.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention is based on the use of information from a navigation device that has been rapidly spread in recent years, and is used to prevent the driver from forgetting to turn off the turn signal or to operate the vehicle incorrectly when changing lanes. It is another object of the present invention to appropriately control the turn signal so as to avoid the danger between the vehicle and another vehicle.

That is, the present invention provides a data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data;
Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, control means for automatically turning off the blinker by determining that the course change has been completed from the detection result by the current position detecting means and the road information stored in the data storage means, A turn signal control device for a vehicle, comprising:

Further, the present invention provides a data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data, a current position detection means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, and a detection result and data storage means for the current position detection means. The first discriminating means for discriminating the presence or absence of an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the course from the road information stored in the vehicle, turning right and left when the first discriminating means determines that there is an intersection, and changing lanes when determining that there is no intersection. And a control means for automatically turning off the blinker after the second discrimination means has determined that the right or left turn or the lane change has been completed. Is a turn signal control device of a vehicle to be driven.

Further, the present invention provides a data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data, a current position detection means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, and a detection result and data storage means for the current position detection means. First determining means for determining the presence or absence of an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the course from stored road information, and second determining for determining whether or not the course change indicated by the blinker lit by the driver has been completed. Means for determining whether or not the traveling lane is the leftmost lane of the road; and
First control means for automatically turning off the turn signal based on the determination result of the second and third determination means, and second control means for automatically turning on the hazard lamp based on the determination result of the first and third determination means. And a turn signal control device for a vehicle.

[0010] In this case, preferably, the second control means automatically turns on the hazard lamp in response to a signal indicating that the side brake is turned on.

Further, when the second control means automatically turns on the hazard lamp, a third control means for automatically turning off the hazard lamp in response to an off signal of the ignition switch can be further provided.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a turn signal control device according to the present invention. This turn signal control device is configured to be incorporated in a navigation device.

The data storage unit 10 of the navigation device
Consists of a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or an IC card,
Various data such as voice data 11, map data 12, place name data 13, road data 14, lane data 15, and intersection data 16 are stored.

The current position detector 20 includes a GPS satellite receiver 21 and receives radio waves from GPS satellites to determine the current position coordinates of the vehicle.
2. It is configured to perform highly accurate position detection by using, as correction data, data on the azimuth and actual traveling distance detected by various sensors such as the distance sensor 23 and the steering sensor 24.

[0015] Position information such as the current location (departure location) and the destination is input by an operation of a user through an input unit 25 including a keyboard or the like.

The operation processing unit 30 includes these input units 25,
Various data from the data storage unit 10 and the current position detection unit 20 are input. The CPU 31 calculates a route from the current position to the destination based on these data according to a program stored in the ROM 32. RAM3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a working memory for storing data such as a path determined by the CPU 31. These ROM 32 and RAM 33 are connected to the CPU 31 by data bus lines.

The CPU 31 synthesizes the voice data 11 according to the result of the determination to create a voice instruction signal,
By outputting the sound from the voice output unit 26, the route guidance for the driver is performed. The display unit 27 including a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, and the like displays map data 1
2 and a road map drawn based on the road data 14 and the like are displayed, and the current position detection unit 2 is displayed on this road map.
The current position detected at 0 is displayed and the CPU
A recommended route is displayed as a result of the determination made by 31.

A vehicle speed sensor 28 for detecting the current running speed of the vehicle is provided. The vehicle speed sensor 28 may be provided in the current position detection unit 20 to obtain correction data for detecting the current position.

The configuration described above is generally known as a conventional navigation device.

The turn signal control unit 35 determines whether the turn signal 36 is on or off by the built-in CPU, and
It is determined whether or not the course change has been completed based on various data input from the arithmetic processing unit 30 when 6 is on, and when it is determined that the course change has been completed, the turn signal 36 is automatically turned off. Control.

The hazard lamp control unit 40 has a built-in C
The PU controls on / off of the hazard lamp 38 based on various data input via the arithmetic processing unit 30, vehicle speed data detected by the vehicle speed sensor 28, and the like.

The turn signal control unit 35 and the hazard lamp control unit 40 are turned on in response to a signal indicating that the ignition switch 39 is on.

The control by the turn signal control unit 35 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, referring to FIG. 2, upon receiving a turn signal indicating that the turn signal 36 has been turned on (step S11), the operation of the turn signal 36 indicates a course change to the right. (Step S1
2) based on the current position data of the vehicle detected by the current position detection unit 20 and various data such as the road data 14 and the intersection data 16 stored in the data storage unit 10 within a predetermined distance ahead of the traveling course. It is determined whether or not there is an intersection (step S13).

If there is an intersection ahead, it is determined that the turn change to the right indicated by the turn signal is a right turn, and if there is no intersection ahead, it is determined that the lane has changed to the right lane. In the former case, the right turn is completed (step S14), and in the latter case, after the lane change to the right lane is completed (step S15), the turn signals 36 are automatically turned off (step S16). In particular, the intersection data 16 is referred to in determining whether a right turn has been completed at an intersection, and the lane data 15 is particularly referred to in determining whether a lane change to a right lane has been completed.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, when the ignition switch 39 is ON (step S2).
1) A winker signal indicating that the winker 36 has been turned on is input (step S22), and it is determined that the operation of the winker 36 is intended to change the course to the left (step S23). , As in FIG. 2,
Based on the current position data of the own vehicle detected by the current position detection unit 20 and various data such as the road data 14 and the intersection data 16 stored in the data storage unit 10,
It is determined whether there is an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the traveling path (step S24).

If there is an intersection ahead, it is determined that the operation of the turn signal indicates a left turn. Therefore, it is determined that the left turn has been completed particularly with reference to the intersection data 16 (step S25). It is automatically turned off (step 26).

When the turn signal 36 indicates a course change to the left, it is determined that there is no intersection ahead of the course (step S24: NO). It is considered that the driver intends to park and stop at the station. Therefore, in the next step S27, the road and the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling are determined, and if the vehicle is traveling on a one-lane road or the leftmost lane of a multiple-lane road, the vehicle is intended to be parked and stopped. Otherwise, it is determined that the lane change to the left lane is intended.

In the former case, that is, when the vehicle is parked and stopped,
Thereafter, upon receiving a side brake signal indicating that the side brake 37 has been applied (step S28), the hazard lamp 38 is automatically turned on (step S29). Thereafter, when the ignition switch 39 is turned off, the hazard lamp 38 is automatically turned off (step S30). These controls are performed by the hazard lamp control unit 40.
Do.

On the other hand, in the latter case, that is, in the case of changing lanes to the left lane, the same control as in the case of changing lanes to the right lane is performed. After determining that the lane change has been completed (step S31), the turn signal 36 is automatically turned off (step S32).

After it is determined in step S14, S15, S25 or S31 that the right or left turn or lane change has been completed, the turn signal 36 is automatically turned off in steps S16, S26 and S32 after traveling a certain distance, for example, 30 m. Can be controlled as follows.

The hazard lamp control unit 40 determines that the vehicle speed sensor 28 detects a vehicle speed of, for example, less than 3 km and that the current position detection unit 20 uses the vehicle current position data and the road data 14 to set the vehicle in the shoulder area of the running road. When it is determined that there is a vehicle, it is determined that the driver intends to park and stop, and the hazard lamp 38 is automatically turned on. Then, when the vehicle speed becomes 3 km or more, the hazard lamp 38 is automatically turned on. Control to turn off.

[0033]

According to the present invention, the blinker extinguishing and the turning on / off of the hazard lamp are automatically controlled at an appropriate timing with respect to the position of the own vehicle. The hazard lamp can maintain an appropriate operation state, and safety for a following vehicle and the like is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example in which a turn signal and a hazard lamp control device according to the present invention are incorporated in a navigation device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control at the time of a turn signal operation indicating a course change to the right in the control device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control at the time of a turn signal operation indicating a course change to the left in the control device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 data storage unit 14 road data 15 lane data 16 intersection data 20 current position detection unit 28 vehicle speed sensor 30 arithmetic processing unit 35 turn signal control unit 36 turn signal 37 side brake 38 hazard lamp 39 ignition switch 40 hazard lamp control unit

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data; a current position detection means for detecting a current position of a vehicle; a detection result by the current position detection means and stored in the data storage means. Control means for automatically turning off the blinker by judging that the course change has been completed from the road information to be outputted, and a turn signal control device for a vehicle. 2. A data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data; a current position detection means for detecting a current position of a vehicle; a detection result by the current position detection means and stored in the data storage means. The first discriminating means for discriminating the presence or absence of an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the course from the road information to be provided, a right / left turn when the first discriminating means determines that there is an intersection, and a lane change when it is determined that there is no intersection. Second determining means for determining that the vehicle has been completed, and control means for automatically turning off the blinker after the second determining means determines that the right or left turn or lane change has been completed. Turn signal control device for the vehicle. 3. A data storage means for storing road information including lane data and intersection data; a current position detection means for detecting a current position of the vehicle; a detection result by the current position detection means and stored in the data storage means. First determining means for determining the presence or absence of an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the course from the road information to be provided; and second determining means for determining whether or not the course change indicated by the blinker lit by the driver has been completed.
Determining means for determining whether or not the traveling lane is the leftmost lane of the road; and
And first control means for automatically turning off the turn signal based on the result of the determination by the second determination means, and second control means for automatically turning on the hazard lamp based on the result of the determination by the first and third determination means. And a turn signal control device for a vehicle. 4. The blinker control device according to claim 3, wherein said second control means automatically turns on a hazard lamp in response to a signal indicating that a side brake is turned on. 5. A third method for automatically turning off a hazard lamp in response to an off signal of an ignition switch when the second control means automatically turns on the hazard lamp.
5. The blinker control device according to claim 4, further comprising: a control unit.