Patent US5769303A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US4689816A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US4191656A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US3222081A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0485132A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0485132A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Direction sensor having an earth magnetism sensor and a rate gyro sensor and navigation system having this direction sensor

Assignee: Denso Ten Ltd
•
Filing: 1991-11-04
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-11-04
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract The direction sensor has an earth magnetism sensor (1) and a rate gyro sensor (2) that calculates a compensated direction by weighted mean process of outputs from the earth magnetism sensor and the rate gyro sensor. The compensated direction has a high detection accuracy similar to the rate gyro sensor in a short time, but does not have an error accumulation of the rate gyro sensor in a long time because the rate gyro sensor is subsantially calibrated with the accurate direction obtained by averaging outputs of the earth magnetism sensor. The navigation system has distribution information of the magnetic disturbances to earth magnetism on a map (5) and it reduces the weighted mean ratio to the earth magnetism sensor (1) when the magnetic disturbance at locating position is large. The accuracy of the compensated direction is further improved by excluding inaccurate outputs of the earth magnetism sensor (1).

Inventors

  • 👤 Atsushi Ichimura
  • 👤 Yasuhiro Nakatani

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 17:35
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G01C21/28; B; B60; B60T; B60T2250/00; B60T2250/06; B60T2250/062

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 134 words
A driving direction sensor of a vehicle for outputting a compensated direction, comprising: an earth magnetism sensor (1) for detecting a forward angle relative to magnetic north of earth and outputting a first driving direction calculated from said detected forward angle, a rate gyro sensor (2) for calculating a rotated angle from detected rotating speed and for outputting a second driving direction obtained by adding said rotated angle to a reference direction, and a direction compensating means (3) for calculating a compensated direction from said first driving direction and said second driving direction, characterized in that said direction compensating means (3) calculates said compensated direction by a weighted mean process of said first driving direction and said second driving direction, and sets said compensated direction as said reference direction of said rate gyro sensor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 32 words
A driving direction sensor of a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, wherein a weighted mean ratio of said weighted mean process changes according to a driving time of said vehicle.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 44 words
A driving direction sensor of a vehicle as set forth in claim 1, wherein a weighted mean ratio of said weighted mean process changes according to a temperature of said rate gyro sensor (2) or an environment temperature of said rate gyro sensor (2).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 72 words
A navigation system comprising: a driving direction sensor (10) for detecting a driving direction, a driving distance sensor (4) for detecting a driving distance, a road map storing means (5) for storing information relating to a road map, and a locating position calculating means (6) for calculating a locating position on said road map, characterized in that said driving direction sensor (10) is a direction sensor as set forth in claim 1.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 79 words
A navigation system as set forth in claim 4, wherein said navigation system comprising: a disturbance data storing means (7) for storing distribution information of magnetic disturbance to earth magnetism in a form corresponding to said road map, and a ratio changing means (8) for detecting an intensity of magnetic disturbance at said locating position from said disturbance data storing means (7) and changing a weighted mean ratio of said weighted mean process according to said magnetic disturbance intensity.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 86 words
A navigation system as set forth in claim 5, wherein said disturbance data storing means (7) comprises locating positions of specific facilities and respective influence ranges of said specific facilities in which each disturbance of said specific facilities to earth magnetism is more than a predetermined level,and said ratio changing means (8) further comprises a distance calculating means for calculating distances between said specific facilities and said locating position and changes said weighted mean ratio whether or not said locating position is within said influence range.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 36 words
A navigation system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said ratio changing means (8) changes said weighted mean ratio of said first driving direction to 0 when said locating position is within said disturbance range.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 24 words
A navigation system as set forth in claim 6, wherein said ratio changing means (8) changes said weighted mean ratio between 0 and 1.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 190 words
A navigation system of a vehicle for offering a locating position on a map, comprising: an earth magnetism sensor (1) for detecting a forward angle relative to magnetic north of earth and outputting a first driving direction calculated from said detected forward angle, a rate gyro sensor (2) for calculating a rotated angle from detected rotating speed and for outputting a second driving direction obtained by adding said rotated angle to a reference direction, a direction compensating means (3) for calculating a compensated direction from said first driving direction and said second driving direction, a driving distance sensor (4) for detecting a driving distance, a road map storing means (5) for storing information relating to a road map, and a locating position calculating means (6) for calculating a locating position on said road map, characterized in that said navigation system comprising: a disturbance data storing means (7) for storing distribution information of magnetic disturbance to earth magnetism in a form corresponding to said road map, and a changing means (8) for detecting an intensity of magnetic disturbance at said locating position and changing a calculating process of said compensated direction.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

No citation records indexed.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag