EP0487280B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method and apparatus for displaying road conditions
Assignee: Denso Ten Ltd
•
Filing: 1991-11-18
•
Granted: 1998-04-29
•
Expires: 2011-11-18
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Yasuhiro Nakatani
- 👤 Atsushi Ichimura
- 👤 Toshio Tanaka
- 👤 Hiroshi Takeuchi
- 👤 Yoichi Okano
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 09:13
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G01C21/34; G01C21/36; G01C21/3697; B; B60; B60G; B60G2400/00; B60G2400/80; B60G2400/82; B60G2400/824; B60G2401/00; B60G2401/16; B60G2600/00; B60G2600/04; B60G2800/00; B60G2800/01; B60G2800/012; B60G2800/24; B60G2800/70; B60G2800/90; B60G2800/91; B60G2800/912; B60G2800/9124
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
200 words
An apparatus for providing guidance concerning road
condition, comprising: means for detecting a unit
travelling link among a plurality of unit links in a road
information (13), on which a vehicle is travelling; and
means (14,10-1) for detecting an instantaneous position of
the vehicle and a travelling direction of said vehicle;
characterised in that the apparatus further comprises means
(10-3) for calculating a distance from the instantaneous
vehicle position to a forthcoming end of said unit
travelling link on the basis of said instantaneous vehicle
position and said travelling direction; means (10-4) for
detecting a number of intersecting unit links connected to
the forthcoming end of said unit travelling link; means
(16) for calculating an intersecting angle 1 at said
forthcoming end of the said unit travelling link with
said intersecting unit link when said number of said intersecting unit links is one; means for calculating a curvature
at the end of said unit travelling link on the basis of the
intersecting angle 1 and the length l 1 of the next unit
link connected to the end of the unit travelling link; and
means (17) for displaying information concerning the
curvature at the intersection of said link.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
35 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for
calculating the curvature calculates the curvature
utilizing the equation radius of curvature r1 = k . l 1 1 where k denotes a constant value.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
information providing means comprises means (16) for
displaying information concerning intersecting condition of
said unit travelling link and the intersecting links at the
intersection thereof.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the information is displayed as a graphic pattern
representing the condition of the intersection.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims,
further comprising means for discriminating a degree of
danger on the basis of the information concerning the
instantaneous travelling speed of the vehicle and the
intersecting angle for providing an alarm for a driver.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the means for
providing an alarm generates an alarm in the form of a
graphic alarming display and/or an audible alarm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
115 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein a unit travelling link train is defined by a
plurality of unit links serially connected to one end of a
previous unit link locating the vehicle moving direction;
and wherein the means for calculating the curvature
calculates the curvature utilizing the equation radius of curvature r1 = k . L A A wherein k denotes a constant value, L A denotes a total
length of each one of the unit links L i , i.e. L A = Σl i and
A denotes a total intersection angle of each one of the
intersecting angles i , i.e. A = Σ i .
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
212 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the unit travelling link is a link of a link
train, the apparatus further comprising means for detecting instantaneous position of the vehicle
and a travelling direction of said vehicle on said unit
link in said link train; means for determining an end position of the last link unit
of said link train positioned at a place a predetermined
distance γ ahead of said instantaneous position of the
vehicle; means for detecting and calculating at least a number of
intersecting unit links connected, an intersecting angle
formed, and a curvature of at least one of said unit links
connected to an end of each one of said unit links of said
travelling link train; means for displaying at least one of said information
concerning at least one of the number of intersecting unit
links connected, an intersecting angle formed between said
unit link and adjacent unit link connected, and a curvature
of a unit link connected to each one of the ends of said
unit links in said link train, respectively, in an order in
which each one of said unit links are arranged from said
instantaneous position of the vehicle to said position said
predetermined distance ahead of said instantaneous position
thereof.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the information concerning the curvature comprises
a stored graphic sign which is selected from a plurality of
stored graphic signs in accordance with the calculated
curvature and curve direction.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
182 words
A method for providing guidance concerning road
condition, comprising the steps of: detecting a unit
travelling link among a plurality of unit links in a road
information, on which a vehicle is travelling; and
detecting an instantaneous position of the vehicle and a
travelling direction of said vehicle; characterised in that
the method further comprises the steps of: calculating a distance from the instantaneous vehicle
position to a forthcoming end of said unit link on the
basis of said instantaneous vehicle position and said
travelling direction; detecting a number of intersecting unit links connected
to the forthcoming end of said unit link; calculating intersecting angle 1 at said forthcoming
end of the said unit link with said intersecting unit links
when said number of said intersecting unit links is one;
calculating a curvature at the end of said unit travelling
link on the basis of the intersecting angle 1 and the
length l 1 of the next unit link connected to the end of the
unit travelling link; and displaying information concerning the curvature at the
intersection of said links.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method as set forth in claim 10, which further
comprises a step of discriminating a degree of danger on
the basis of the information concerning the instantaneous
travelling speed of the vehicle and said intersecting angle
for providing an alarm for a driver.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
99 words
A method according to claim 10 or 11, further
comprising the steps of: detecting a number of intersecting links connected to
the forthcoming end of said unit link when a distance from
the instantaneous vehicle position to a forthcoming end of
the unit travelling link on the basis of the instantaneous
vehicle position and the travelling direction becomes below
a predetermined distance ℓ 0 ; and displaying information indicative of forthcoming
intersection accompanying information concerning
intersecting condition of said link and said intersecting
unit links at the intersection thereof, when the number of
said intersecting unit links is plural.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
35 words
A method according to any of claims 10 or 11, wherein
the curvature is calculated utilizing the equation radius of curvature r1 = k . l 1 1 where k denotes a constant value.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
113 words
A method according to any of claims 10 to 12 wherein
a unit travelling link train is defined by a plurality of
unit links i each connected to one end of a previous unit
link locating the vehicle moving direction; and wherein the
curvature is calculated utilizing the equation radius of curvature r1 = k . L A A wherein k denotes a constant value, L A denotes a total
length of each one of the unit links L i , i.e. L A = Σl i and
A denotes a total intersection angle of each one of the
intersecting angles i , i.e. A = Σ i .
Claim 15
Independent Claim
39 words
A method according to any of claims 10 to 14, further
comprising selecting a stored graphic sign from a plurality
of previously stored signs in accordance with the
calculated curvature and curve direction, and displaying
the selected graphic sign.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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